Social Contagion

[Henry]

Based on a simple risk/reward equation, I'm running. Yes, I could sit there and finish my Brazilian nut coffee and say "Look at those low level Kegan idiots running from nothing" but there is no certitude in this situation. Remaining alive trumps being right. And in the progression of the development of a social contagion, I'm ok succumbing to the truth being a lie believed stage if there is even minimal evidence of an existential threat to my life. However, being that this is the perennial problem of "the other" (which I'm not so certain is merely psychological), it's when the requirement to identify a threat either eclipses the requirement to identify whether there is actually a threat and/or the requirement to truthfully identify the threat, that things go sideways and six million end up in the ovens. I was once pinned against a wall by a NYC police officer when I was misidentified as a culprit. It was a female officer so it was kind of hot and scary but that's kind of besides the point. The real point being It's the backend of the situation when the chase turns in on itself and becomes a hunt that things get dangerous. Otherwise, what's the loss here. Maybe some of those coffee sipping gullible pricks ended up joining a cross fit gym.

[chenda]

Right. People who would have stayed drinking their coffee chuckling at the low level Keegans have long since been weeded out of the gene pool. Most likely via an unpleasant death at the hands of an angry charging tiger for example.

[chenda]

I was once pinned against a wall by a NYC police officer when I was misidentified as a culprit.

What crime didn't you commit ?

[Henry]

I'm not sure. It was chaotic. I don't think they were profiling. I just ended up on the wrong end of some finger pointing, Most likely someone jumped a fare or a tourist got hustled in a three card monte. I know I don't look like a criminal because every time I did have encounters with the NYPD over crimes I actually committed they would say things like "Don't cry" and "I bet your mother would really be disappointed in you" the type of things I don't foresee them saying to the hardened type.

[chenda]

"Don't cry" and "I bet your mother would really be disappointed in you" the type of things I don't foresee them saying to the hardened type.

Yes I reckon they don't say that to your Costa Nostra acquaintance.

[grundomatic]

So how to be a person that runs from the cafe, but doesn't push the button that shocks an innocent subject because a person with a white lab coat behind you says to? There is also the opposite, when going along with the crowd is more dangerous...subjects were much less likely to report or even mention smoke in a room when there were lab assistants there who were ignoring the smoke. I suppose one could say "in this case I'd think and look out for myself", but there is also a demonstrated difference in how subjects reported they would handle a difficult/inappropriate situation, and how they actually did when presented with it.

[7Wannabe5]

It has been my experience that I instinctively react differently in variety of emergency situations. Sometimes I am a runner or a hider. Sometimes I am a screamer. Sometimes I am a calm leader. Sometimes I am a fighter. Usually my behavior makes some kind of rough sense in context. For instance, screaming is often seen as counter-productive behavior, but it makes sense in any situation where somebody better able to deal with emergency or help you is near enough to hear you, and it gives alert to others who may choose to run or hide. In a brief campus safety course I took many years ago, I learned to overcome social embarrassment and choose to very loudly proclaim something like "STOP FOLLOWING ME!" in uncomfortable situations, so others would be alerted. I've done this on a couple occassions and it worked well.

[grundomatic]

Social embarrassment! People die from choking in public places because they leave the table to be polite, rather than, you know, embarrass themselves by signaling for help or making a fuss.

[7Wannabe5]

Yes, social embarassment is huge. It's interesting to me how different humans who suffer from Crohn's disease deal with the very real possibility of shitting their pants in public. Some don't let the possibility inhibit their activities at all. I'm not quite that bold (yet.)