51. Good Samaritan.

Decades ago social theorists in the USA explored the notion of a Good Samaritan. The likelihood of a stranger stopping to help you out hinges on several variables, the greatest being:

1. The gender of the victim: men are less likely to be helped than women.
2. The first impression the victim has on the helper: attractive people of a race agreeable to the helper are more likely to be helped.
3. The number of bystanders or passersby in the area: if there are many people in the area the responsibility for the victim is less pressing (diffusion of responsibility).
4. The free time the helper has. Seriously: the chances of your being left for dead rise astronomically if your potential helper is late for something.

Again we find that the pace of life is now too fast to keep old-fashioned traditions like helping someone in need alive. But I won’t get on my high-horse: I’d be just as likely to leave you for dead as anyone else, and for that I am ashamed.

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