On Saturday, I took a ride to New Hope with a friend of
mine. It was a busy, holiday weekend and several people were walking along the
main street. We stopped on the bridge to look at the giant koi in the water
below. While we were standing there, a baby duck went over the falls and became
separated from its mother and siblings.
The event drew a crowd and everyone stopped to watch the
helpless duckling. The longer we stood there, the more people gathered. After a
few minutes, one man crossed the bridge and went to the edge of the water. Soon
after, another man joined him. The crowd grew larger. At this point, there were
five people looking for a way down to the water to save the duckling. Several
minutes later, the police arrived and conducted the rescue.
It made me think about two things. The first is human
interference with the natural selection process. Perhaps that duckling just
wasn’t supposed to make it.
The second is the bystander effect. The bystander effect
refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the number of people present;
the less likely people are to help a person in distress. When an emergency
situation occurs, observers are more likely to take action if there are few or
no other witnesses.
I read a news story recently about a woman who was assaulted
and raped by a man as bystanders watched. As I stood on the bridge Saturday
afternoon, I couldn’t help but wonder if so many people would have taken an
interest if it was a person in the water instead of a baby duck.
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