Social Experiment.
Have you ever been approached or even witnessed the happenings at various filmed situations? When social conscience meets human behaviour the consequences can be not as you may think and these following stories got me thinking about how I would react to a particular demand for action.
An interesting social experiment was conducted in Australia although in the example the country was not so important as the currency that was used. A young teenage boy who appeared to be blind was using a white stick and called to passing strangers, he asked if they had coin change for a five dollar note. When the exchange took place it was obvious the blind boy's proffered note was for fifty dollars and not five as he believed. About half of the strangers took the fifty dollar note and gave only five dollar coins. Amongst the other half who told the blind boy of his mistake was one who said he only had three dollars and he could keep the coins as he did not have enough change for the fifty dollar note. There was one incident which saw a passerby halt an exchange because he could see that the person was taking far more than he was giving to the boy.
The next experiment took place in the U S A and a car was parked with the side window open. Inside the car several dollar bills were left clearly visible on top of the dashboard and it was not long before passersby reached in and quickly took all the scattered dollar bill notes. The man conducting the experiment challenged the thieves and informed them of the experiment and that they were being filmed. Most of them gave the money back except for one who run off like an Exocet missile. The car and experiment was moved to poor and well off areas with the same result. A notable incident occurred when a man lent through the window and took sometime before withdrawing and on being challenged he replied that he had taken the money and to the surprise of the man in charge carried on to say that he had put it in the glove compartment. He had thought that it had not been a good idea to leave money visible. After some questions by the person in charge he learnt that the man was homeless and living in a shelter. The man in charge was so moved by this he gave him a hundred dollars.
I believe people are different and it is a mistake to stick a label on any group of people as we are all human with weaknesses but amongst us are individuals with compassion and a determination to do the right thing no matter what.
One of the good things about life is there always is an opportunity to be a better person and life has ups and downs but that should not sour a drive to try and do the right thing at all times.
An interesting social experiment was conducted in Australia although in the example the country was not so important as the currency that was used. A young teenage boy who appeared to be blind was using a white stick and called to passing strangers, he asked if they had coin change for a five dollar note. When the exchange took place it was obvious the blind boy's proffered note was for fifty dollars and not five as he believed. About half of the strangers took the fifty dollar note and gave only five dollar coins. Amongst the other half who told the blind boy of his mistake was one who said he only had three dollars and he could keep the coins as he did not have enough change for the fifty dollar note. There was one incident which saw a passerby halt an exchange because he could see that the person was taking far more than he was giving to the boy.
The next experiment took place in the U S A and a car was parked with the side window open. Inside the car several dollar bills were left clearly visible on top of the dashboard and it was not long before passersby reached in and quickly took all the scattered dollar bill notes. The man conducting the experiment challenged the thieves and informed them of the experiment and that they were being filmed. Most of them gave the money back except for one who run off like an Exocet missile. The car and experiment was moved to poor and well off areas with the same result. A notable incident occurred when a man lent through the window and took sometime before withdrawing and on being challenged he replied that he had taken the money and to the surprise of the man in charge carried on to say that he had put it in the glove compartment. He had thought that it had not been a good idea to leave money visible. After some questions by the person in charge he learnt that the man was homeless and living in a shelter. The man in charge was so moved by this he gave him a hundred dollars.
I believe people are different and it is a mistake to stick a label on any group of people as we are all human with weaknesses but amongst us are individuals with compassion and a determination to do the right thing no matter what.
One of the good things about life is there always is an opportunity to be a better person and life has ups and downs but that should not sour a drive to try and do the right thing at all times.
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