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"The importance of appearances experiment"

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posted on May, 7 2014 @ 08:43 PM
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Just saw a video on Youtube where a sort of social experiment was carried out. A guy walked into a crowded area with many people passing by and started coughing before falling over on the ground. In the first part, the guy is laying on the ground calling out "help me, help me". Everyone is just passing by and ignoring him. One woman even walks closer to take a look at him and then keeps walking. Nobody shows any concern whatsoever. In the next part, the same guy wears a suit and does the same act; but now, instead of simply walking by and ignoring him, people immediately rush to his help... Simply because of the clothing he was wearing. It's pretty shocking to see.

Personally, I've never understood why people insist on judging others because of the particular clothing they're wearing. Why are people so superficial and shallow?




posted on May, 7 2014 @ 08:51 PM
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Reminds me of a David Blaine special.



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 08:54 PM
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a reply to: trollz

I agree, it's sad.

I think city people have a natural blindness to anyone that looks homeless in general.



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:06 PM
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Reminds me of the case of Kitty Genovese who was attacked and raped in a New York alley. Kitty cried 'Oh my God, he stabbed me!" but no-one came to her assistance. Around 30 minutes after fleeing the scene, the attacker came back and killed her. Eventually one woman came to help her, although it was later ascertained that upwards of ten neighbours heard her screams and did nothing.

It's called the Bystander Effect and to me it's one of the most scary indirect forms of human behaviour. Since the Kitty Genovese case there have been vast amounts of research into it, and how different variables (apparent social status of victim, number of people in the vicinity, apparent seriousness of the event) can affect whether people help. From what I remember, if one person starts helping, suddenly everyone does.



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:11 PM
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Also kind of makes me think of this...police=authority vs female=public www.change.org...


BTW MODS nothing indecent here besides proof of police abuse.












No offense Semper.
edit on 5/7/2014 by Chamberf=6 because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:23 PM
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For some real insight into the power of apperance; Read the book "Black like Me"

www.goodreads.com...

www.youtube.com...



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:26 PM
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I'm guessing it has deep instinctive roots. Animals tend to shun others who appear to be weak and ill. Weak and ill members often appear to be disheveled, unkempt, not sleek and healthy. I'm guessing this is part of where our societal predisposition toward wanting to appear well-kept and well-groomed, prosperous stems from.

Of course, for an animal, it makes perfect sense to avoid less thrifty members of your own kind. They attract the attention of predators and may infect you with whatever made them ill.

Humans are a bit different now in that we can afford to take that risk, but that doesn't mean our root instincts have evolved away.



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:27 PM
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a reply to: twfau




From what I remember, if one person starts helping, suddenly everyone does

Yeah, and if nobody helps, nobody does unless that one special person does.



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:30 PM
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a reply to: ketsuko

Yeah, thank whatever gods may be out there my choice in thrift shop/vintage clothes didn't make me overlooked in the two times I REALLY needed help.



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:38 PM
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I heard on the radio today, the overwhelming results of a poll show that "women who wear makeup are more trustworthy and believable".

REALLY??!! Peoples' perception can be so screwed up....
edit on 7-5-2014 by tinker9917 because: (no reason given)

edit on 7-5-2014 by tinker9917 because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:39 PM
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originally posted by: Chamberf=6
a reply to: ketsuko

Yeah, thank whatever gods may be out there my choice in thrift shop/vintage clothes didn't make me overlooked in the two times I REALLY needed help.


True altruism, that impulse to help, is something that we learn and are taught, not something that's born into us. That we see this is clear evidence that people aren't learning that anymore.



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:45 PM
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a reply to: trollz

Dressing down is a good way to find out who real people are. Of course poor people don't have much choice. When I was living "outdoors" I could always tell the kind of people I was dealing with. Those that have disdain for sloppy appearance are not ever going to be someone you can truly count on, their judgment is reserved for appearances only. Those that look you in the eye and dis regard you appearance while speaking to your mind are the ones that you can count on. its a good tell.



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 09:52 PM
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a reply to: ketsuko




True altruism, that impulse to help, is something that we learn and are taught, not something that's born into us. That we see this is clear evidence that people aren't learning that anymore.

I'm honestly divided on that. I mean whether it's born into us or not.

That's almost sounds like predetermination.

Like nobody has a choice.

Like they're just going to do what they were born to do...

I mean yeah, it IS taught to some, but not to many others too.

Those "Others" can still make great choices....because it is their Choice.

Hell, those "others" ( not "taught") influenced my life greatly. "They" taught me a hell of a lot.

In my younger years I was raised "right" whatever that may be interpreted as....help others, and such.

But the time when I was even a kid (granted I didn't know anything beyond my childish thinking) and even though I was the one winning the arm wrestling and all that stupid s*(_ ...the guys that to look at..well you'd think they were from the wrong side of the "tracks").

But GD they sure as hell proved to be much better people than appearances made others seem.

When I was challenged to fight (and it was a lot, because I was just weird plus kind of smart) all these guys who most people would look at and call "ruffians' stood up for me before I even got to the spot to fight.

Appearances are just that--facades. One may look like the most respectable wtf in the world but really is a sick bastard, while those who care more about their CHARACTER than their appearance can surprise and teach sooooo many by their actions.

A nice photo doesn't mean s9678

I feel like I'm somehow speaking up for Holden Caulfield and defending him against John Lennon's killer (who completely missed the point, sadly)

I guess I could make my own thread about Salinger's writings and actually think I should, because most are about Zen and precociousness and dealing with it all--being different. ----One of Salinger's creations in the "Glass family killed himself over it all....digressing.
edit on 5/7/2014 by Chamberf=6 because: ugh



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 10:08 PM
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Disturbing. I mean I knew what to expect, but to see it, I really wondered what was going through their heads. What possesses us to think that rendering aid to someone is not an option because of how they are dressed? Is it because these people assume one type of person is more dangerous to them than the next?



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 10:16 PM
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a reply to: Chamberf=6

Yes, appearances are just a façade, which is why you have to work hard to raise your kids to look past them to the basic human underneath, our shared humanity. It's fighting instinct, and you have to be trained against it. Look at how kids behave in school when they immediately group up with others who are like them and shun the outsiders. You again have to keep working and training them not to do that, not to clique up, to look at the humanity of every person.

When it goes this far (what you see in the video), it's an utter failure of values training.



posted on May, 7 2014 @ 10:26 PM
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a reply to: trollz

Thank you for posting the interesting video. It reminded me of another one that could be thought of as related to yours. I think if they are related, it's about how controlled we are by social norms; more than by values or laws. In this case, people generally don't recognize their own sleepwalking, often to their own bittersweet peril.



posted on May, 8 2014 @ 06:16 AM
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Those that have disdain for sloppy appearance are not ever going to be someone you can truly count on, their judgment is reserved for appearances only. - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...


"What the hell we gona do if we come off this river and our cars are not down at whats it's name?

"You can trust them"

"well thems some pretty rough looking boys-them hillbilly's"

"You can't judge people by the way they look chubby- they will be there"

James Dickey- Deliverance



posted on May, 8 2014 @ 10:18 AM
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a reply to: trollz

There was a man - Joshua Bell - who played a violin in a New York subway during rush hour, as part of a social experiment. The violin cost about 3 million dollars, the selection was six Bach pieces, and this was a guy whose shows generally cost $120 a seat, or something like that. When he played in that subway, he walked out with $32. The only person who paid any real attention to him was a kid.

But in the following months, those same people would spend out the nose to watch a show they couldn't be bothered to enjoy in a subway for a few quarters.

There's a thread on it somewhere around here. Good excuse to use the search engine.

edit on 8-5-2014 by AfterInfinity because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 8 2014 @ 10:27 AM
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a reply to: audenine

That's astonishing. I can't believe no one picked that wallet up. Given how often wallets are snagged while we're still carrying them, to find one just laying on the ground and leave it there is a pretty strange twist of morals for a society who can walk past a bleeding man and not do anything.



posted on May, 8 2014 @ 11:15 AM
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a reply to: trollz

This is why we wont make it as a species. Too many people ascribe an over-inflated importance to clothing.




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