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VOLCANIC ASH
from Helgafell piles up like blackened snow drifts around a
church in Vestmannaeyjar, lceland.
ening events - events which should
have reminded them of tbe danger
they were in? Why did 30,000
people remain confident that it
would all just pass away?
The answer to this question re–
veals a basic flaw of human nature.
It
affiicts most people and could
affiict you, unless you are on guard
against it.
That flaw is twofold: First, it in–
volves the "herd instinct." In other
words, all people tend to be con–
formists. Nobody wants to stand
out. Nobody wants to be regarded
as an alarmist or a heretic.
This feeling of conformity re–
vealed itself in the situation that
faced the inhabitants of St. Pierre.
Public officials did not take the lead
in evacuating the city. Rather, they
attempted to reassure people that
serious peril was not imminent. And
people just went along; nobody
wanted to "rock the boat" and be
looked upon as a trouble maker.
Furthermore, people took con–
fidence in the fact that no one else
was doing anything to prepare for
the calamity either - nobody else
took the danger seriously.
That attitude, on the part of thou–
sands, proved fatal.
Psychologists have analyzed this
aspect of human nature. They have
PLAIN TRUTH May 1973
James
Andonson
-
Gamma
studied many cases where a person
was attacked or raped while groups
of passersby passively watched.
Psychologist John M. Darley of
New York University, a specialist
who has studied the problem, found
that the more people witnessing a
victim in distress, the less likely it
was that someone would help. Such
bystanders, he said, are anguished
individuals in genuine doubt, want–
ing to do the right thing, but they
don' t. Their reactions are shaped by
the actions of others - and most
often by their own inaction.
What is the explanation for this
phenomenon? One fact is that in a
group, the individual is subordi–
nated; he no longer acts or reacts
entirely as an individual. His re–
sponsibility becomes so diffused
that he feels no
personal
responsi–
bility or involvement. As Dr. Darley
explained,
" If
a person were to act,
be might look like a fool, so he does
nothing. So, until somebody acts,
nobody acts."
This is precisely what occurred at
Martinique when Mount Pelée was
simmering and glowering. Nobody
acted because nobody wanted to
look like a "fool" - nobody wanted
to be a public Iaughing stock.
Those who don't act are generally
in a state of indecision and conflict.
They refrain from taking action be–
cause they don't want to make fools
of themselves; also, the inactivity of
those around them lulls tbem into a
sense of false security by creating
the illusion that an emergency situ–
ation does not really exist.
We all have the same human na–
ture. We must all therefore become
aware of our human nature, and the
influences upon it. We must learn to
resist the "herd instinct" so we can
make prompt decisions that may
save our lives in a crisis. We must
notice the events unfolding before
us and then interpret them properly
as an emergency,
if
they indeed consti–
tute one; and we must decide we
have a
personal responsibility to act.
Apathy and lndifference
Closely related to this first flaw in
human nature is the fact that most
people have been conditioned to be
unconcerned and apathetic toward
news events. People are generally
self-centered; they are especially in–
terested in their own personal prob–
lems. Thus, for those living near a
rumbling volcano, there is a ten–
dency for the erupting volcano to
become "old news" - unirnportant
and uninteresting. "Oh, smoke and
fiames belched out ofthat mountain
yesterday, and nothing happened.
So why should anything occur
today?" people reasoned.
People's attention is diverted to
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