Its called the bystander effect, a social psychological condition. Its not unique to China or a particular age group, gender or culture. It's a global phenomenon. Good Samaritan laws is one example to counter its effect, offering legal protection to those who assist, absolving them of liability.
And on this particular incident, to be fair, other people didn't just stood by doing nothing. They threw a life buoy to the Consul to assist him to carry her back to shore.
Last edited by Coolboy; 17-11-2020 at 01:06 PM.
The idea of the Bystander Effect was popularised by a murder in NYC in the 1960s. It made national newspapers, raised cries of 'what is the world coming to' and kicked off decades of sociological studies.
The original incident was wildly misreported and massively inaccurate, probably sensationalised to sell news. There have been numerous, much more recent studies which downplay or negate the idea of the bystander effect, at least in the societies that it's been more studied in (i.e. not China).
In the two specific cases I was referencing, the cause was probably just general lack of first aid awareness. People wanted to be helpful, and were once given direction.
Last edited by jgl; 17-11-2020 at 01:09 PM.
It's worse than stupid, it's Chinese culture. The law about getting sued is a product of Chinese culture, which is directly influenced by confucianism - It's exactly the same reason why many people don't hold a door for you, why people bump into you in the street, why so little is given to charity.... relatively. Why that toddler in Shenzhen was run over and killed and 18 people just walked past the body.
I have seen 2 incidents myself and know of several others from friends:
Car hits a child in Pokfulam (sandy bay) knocking the child into the a drainage ditch, the driver gets out and checks his bumper for a good 10+ seconds before walking over to the child. - I witnessed this, but he didn't attempt to help. There was similar incident caught on CCTV a few years ago at Times square where a taxi mounted the pavement and hit a pedestrian - driver did the same thing (though for less time).
Good friend of mine saw an old Chinese guy knocked over by a tram in wanchai - He didn't speak English, she no Chinese, a group of locals gathered around, no one would help or comfort him. She held his hand (and him) whilst he died - maybe for 3 or 4 minutes. 1 Chinese person called an ambulance everyone else just gawped. A DH who spoke a little canto came to help about 10 seconds before the guy died.
These are just the ones we see.
What are these studies? The concept is still sound. It has not been disproven. As usual, you are just arguing for the sake of it because it was me who pointed that out and you just can't stand that.
Why do you think Good Samaritan laws exist if bystander effect is not real? You think the authorities are just doing it for the hell of it?
No, a Good Samaritan law going into effect in 2017 on the mainland means getting sued by scammers is no longer applicable.
And I must say you might have an incorrect understanding of Confucianism if you think that is to blame for selfish and rude acts, if anything, Confucius condemns such behaviour.