Let's hope the kidnappers don't fight back with a spelling contest. :P

I joke because I love. :D

Agreed. That woman only had pepper spray, things could have gotten much worse than that. I've seen people spontaneously "help" others by hitting and kicking the shit out of someone on several occasions, two times to such a degree that I seriously feared for the original perpetrator's life.

I share similar thoughts on this matter. I'll say this though, I'm rather scared from taking risks so I would probably look for advantages I could use to safe guard myself in case I fail in my attempt to do something, whatever that could be (call the cops, create a distraction or whatever).

I would also say it depends how quickly the kidnappers are. If they are quick as hell (you've only few seconds to react), have automatic weapons and look like they're professionals doing anything without training would likely get you killed as soon as they spot you. If they're amateurs a distraction would likely come easier and give more effect.

What do you mean?

Trading an assault charge to prevent/save someone from being raped sounds like it's well worth it to me.

What assurance does a bystander have that the kid isn't just a little shit who's trying to cause trouble for his actual guardian? Children lie to adults all the time and generally aren't able to understand long-term consequences.

How does a person decide that the adult is lying and the child is telling the truth?


These sorts of candid-camera stunts really bother me because they virtually always cut the actual meat of the issue and instead focus on entertainment.

Yes, getting in trouble should not be an excuse not to help, because people in authority should have the brains not to create that problem in the first place!

It is not as if it is a difficult thing to understand, if authorities punish good Samaritans, then that clearly means they are happy to send the message not to be a good Samaritan, and these are the people in charge of our society, if they think that is right then let them see the consequences. See someone getting raped, tell them "enjoy, with compliments from your government". Then walk on by - (but at least call the police, they still want us to do that at least)


Edit: no, in reality i probably would help,,,, but the idiocy of government really pisses me off!

Simple answer: Yes.

But bevinator does make a good point.

Yes, being a good Samaritan often requires a certain degree of 'assumption' and most wherever you look in modern society, we are taught that assumptions are to be avoided.

In fact, i can think of no situation where an assumption of a would be good Samaritan would have zero chance of being wrong ... oh wait, what about a Pram rolling into traffic??

(Even if you assumed their was a baby in there and there was not, it would still be helpful to stop the pram)

A nice thought, but sadly flawed in so many ways.... perhaps if 'the right thing' was calculatable by mathematics and was known and agreed upon by all humanity, simultaneously, then.......

The answer is always to help. If it's just a kid being a brat then let the police sort it out. The downside to not helping in an actual kidnapping is a million times worse than helping a kid in a false alarm.

A nice thought yourself, but appealing to a majority is a fallacy and universal agreement does not validate anything. Also, if you want to go calculate something you can find the formula for an apple. That would be easier for you than to figure out something as complex as an emotion, a moral, a situation and a response using an abstract system.

I realize that it's a mistake to boast about how tough you would be if you hadn't been tested. But, you can resolve to act. You may act poorly, hesitantly, etc. But what counts is your willingness to do something, whatever you can to help another person who needs help. And that is important. And that resolve is achievable.

It is not true that you have no idea what you will do in a given situation.

Ah, well yes, that's pretty much the point i was making. Because the post i was commenting on, he said you can 'never' be wrong to do the right thing - but the variables on what constitutes the right thing are so vast his remark, although a nice thought, is seriously flawed.

Depends on the situation. If it's a creepy guy trying to pull a kid into a van, yes. Two armed criminals pulling someone into a van, I'll try not to be a target and get the license plate number. I'm not a coward, but I'm not an idiot. Yeah, if it's that annoying little bastard from next door, let the guy have him. I kid.