# The passivity of people **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 5, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869 "2011-07-05T02:03:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/21 "2011-07-05T16:50:23Z")
But what if it was saying: “I am a bomb. I am wired to explode if you try to turn me off. As long as you leave me alone, you are perfectly safe. See what a considerate bomb I am.” ---
**Author:** ![curious11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@curious11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious11)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/22 "2011-07-05T17:20:41Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > …When I post any kind of ad with tear-off phone numbers, I always tear the first one off myself to get it started… Genius! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/23 "2011-07-05T18:12:27Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > I’m the type of person who will pull over on the highway to remove debris from the road. I’m able bodied and I consider it my duty to deal with things if I can. > > But that was someone else’s loud speaker. If it were mine, and I had permission for it to be there, I’d be annoyed that you turned it off. So that’s why I wouldn’t turn it off; not because I’d be afraid “getting in trouble,” but because I don’t like to annoy people. > > If it was _really_ annoying, I’d find some authority figure and ask if it could be turned off. Yeah, that’s my reaction too. I don’t think I’m any less of a goat for not turning it off, but if it’s not my loudspeaker, why touch it? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/24 "2011-07-05T19:24:38Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Yeah, that’s my reaction too. I don’t think I’m any less of a goat for not turning it off, but if it’s not my loudspeaker, why touch it? You’re a discerning goat. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/25 "2011-07-05T19:46:36Z")
Basically, yes, but not (just) because we’re stupid, but because we’re constantly bombarded with things that _aren’t_ our business. We constantly see little things that maybe could be fixed. Some of them – are just wrong and no-one’s fixed them yet. Others of them – are that way for a good reason that’s obvious to someone familiar with the situation, but may seem weird to someone else. Even though a 30s-30m think could divide the one from the other, we see lots of them, so we literally don’t have the time to establish which category each one is in. Some people get scared and don’t meddle at all, even when it’s obvious. Some people are bold and fiddle with stuff even if occasionally they get someone shouting at them “why did you do that? are you so stupid you can’t see it was like that for a reason?” There’s a balancing act in that if you fix just one or two things, between everyone, it’ll be going quite well, but it’s hard to balance between “nothing” and “everything”. The trouble is, each individual one is a case of “well, it’s obvious when you think about it” so if you EVER don’t interfere/interfere when you shouldn’t have then someone can say “it’s OBVIOUS why didn’t you realise that BEFORE” and it’s hard to explain that out of lots of little things, you can’t get them all right. I think most people could improve, normally by standing out from the crowd more, but occasionally by doing so less. But it’s a matter of “please try to do that” not “is humanity literally insane because behaviour that worked perfectly well in a small village produces weird effects when millions of people in a giant metropolis all do it at once, is everyone but me an idiot?” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/26 "2011-07-05T19:56:25Z")
I’ll open a door to avoid waiting at the one open door, I’ll pull into the unoccupied toll lane rather than wait in line at the one right next to it, sometimes I’ll even take the stairs rather than wait with the escalator mob. I’m always looking for the way around the masses. I’ll also pick up a paper towel that someone dropped next to the bathroom trash can. I’ll turn off a faucet that was left on, even if it’s a public place. I’m weird that way. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/27 "2011-07-05T23:03:33Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Are you certain it was not Chinese? There are many dialects, and I’ve heard some rather “non-Chinese sounding” ones myself. Then again, they might just have outsourced the barker position and hired some dude in Chennai instead, who is now out of a job. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/28 "2011-07-06T00:37:18Z")
“…Four. Eight. Fifteen. Sixteen. Twenty-three. Forty-two. … Iteration six million, two hundred thirty-fi–” CLICK. Great. Now here come the polar bears. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/29 "2011-07-06T01:27:00Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > You’re a discerning goat. 🙂 I try! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/30 "2011-07-06T02:14:18Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > It may have been a cultural thing. I don’t know what the tolerance of Chinese people is for noise, but here in Panama people completely ignore noisy music, barking dogs, and other rackets that would have neighbors calling the police in a microsecond in the US. It’s like that everywhere in East and Southeast Asia that I’ve been (well, not so much in Japan), but in China they do seem to make it an art form. The Thais, although they like to consider themselves quiet people, are noisy as all get out. Bangkok is a constant noise assault. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/31 "2011-07-06T15:40:48Z")
Yeah, China enjoys loud places in a way that most of us don’t. Stores will have loud thumping music, people yelling stuff on megaphones, looped recording, motion-sensor announcements and people paid to yell out greetings as you enter and leave the store. A loud, chaotic store full of battling sounds is seen as fun, modern, lively and exciting. Even a simple supermarket might sound like bumping night club- and this is a good thing. This is PROGRESS and FUN. This is way better than the quiet, lame, old-school open market. Chances are it was in Chinese (which doesn’t always sound like you’d expect- especially on the recorded loops they use to sell stuff), was announcing a sale or special, and was expected and maybe even on some level appreciated by the shoppers. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/32 "2011-07-06T15:45:36Z")
That’s interesting, **sven** - there are a lot of Chinese immigrants to Canada, and we like it QUIET here - that must be a helluva culture shock. It does explain the extremely loud talking, though. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/33 "2011-07-06T17:57:26Z")
There was a youtube video (it’s probably still on) a few months ago that showed an escalator spill in DC. It’s really going fast, and people a piling up at the bottom. While this is going on, a Metro worker looks over, basically shrugs his shoulders, and just keeps walkin’. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/34 "2011-07-07T03:14:33Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That’s interesting, **sven** - there are a lot of Chinese immigrants to Canada, and we like it QUIET here - that must be a helluva culture shock. It does explain the extremely loud talking, though. You haven’t lived until you’ve been awoken in a Chinese hotel by your fellow boarders all screeching and hawking up loogies and such. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/35 "2011-07-08T15:12:39Z")
It was actually saying “For gods sake don’t turn this off, its linked to a heart monitor”,in Welsh . ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/36 "2011-07-08T18:11:50Z")
Maybe while you were gone a bunch of other people turned it off as well, but its owner kept turning it back on. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/37 "2011-07-10T11:46:57Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > . It’s the same with garbage cans - if there is no garbage in it already, no one will put garbage in it. When I post any kind of ad with tear-off phone numbers, I always tear the first one off myself to get it started. > > I think it’s the human version of a sheep thing - apparently, sheep won’t go anywhere without a goat to start things. Some people are goats, but most people are sheep. I can see evolutionary reasons for this - the ones who hang back and don’t initiate anything don’t get killed first. To be honest, I never look inside the garbage can first to see if anyone else used it, so I’d argue with you on this one. And if I see a tear-off ad, and there is already a tab missing, I’m less likely to grab one myself because I figure someone has already beaten me to it. Depends on the item or service, I guess. I don’t have a lot of experience with sheep, but I’ve watched sheep-herding demonstrations where they have a flock of sheep out in a field for a few days…and I’ve never noticed a goat in there with them. That would be so lonely for the goat! And nearly every reality show confirms the wisdom of being a sheep…hold back and let the attention-grabbing goats get eliminated, then emerge as a strong contender for the win! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869/38 "2011-07-10T16:16:33Z")
Your homework asignment is to pick a fight with someone…and lose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-passivity-of-people/587869.md?page=1)