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How the Apocalypse Will Bring Out the Best in People:
hope-for-the-planet:
I first started writing this with regards to climate-change-related disasters, but I feel it may be especially relevant right now:
Movies and TV shows tell us that when society falls apart people turn into selfish, violent creatures. They tell us that after the world ends, other people are more of a threat than the zombies or the virus or the natural disaster that caused the crisis.
However, this bleak outlook on humanity is not reflected in reality or even in science. In fact, the opposite is true.
“The myth that panic, looting, and antisocial behavior increases during the apocalypse (or apocalyptic-like scenarios) is in fact a myth—and has been solidly disproved by multiple scientific studies…What really happens after an apocalypse? Society works better than it ever had, for a brief time.” (What Really Happens After the Apocalypse by Arkady Martine).
This phenomenon, known as “spontaneous prosocial helping behavior” is found nearly universally across human cultures and is so intense that many survivors of apocalyptic situations may even have nostalgic-like feelings for the days after a disaster occurred.
“We remain ourselves for the most part, but free to act on, most often, not the worst but the best within. The ruts and routines of ordinary life hide more beauty than brutality.” (Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell)
When left to their own devices, the vast majority of humans will go out of their way to help other humans.
How the Apocalypse Will Bring Out the Best in People:
hope-for-the-planet:
I first started writing this with regards to climate-change-related disasters, but I feel it may be especially relevant right now:
Movies and TV shows tell us that when society falls apart people turn into selfish, violent creatures. They tell us that after the world ends, other people are more of a threat than the zombies or the virus or the natural disaster that caused the crisis.
However, this bleak outlook on humanity is not reflected in reality or even in science. In fact, the opposite is true.
“The myth that panic, looting, and antisocial behavior increases during the apocalypse (or apocalyptic-like scenarios) is in fact a myth—and has been solidly disproved by multiple scientific studies…What really happens after an apocalypse? Society works better than it ever had, for a brief time.” (What Really Happens After the Apocalypse by Arkady Martine).
This phenomenon, known as “spontaneous prosocial helping behavior” is found nearly universally across human cultures and is so intense that many survivors of apocalyptic situations may even have nostalgic-like feelings for the days after a disaster occurred.
“We remain ourselves for the most part, but free to act on, most often, not the worst but the best within. The ruts and routines of ordinary life hide more beauty than brutality.” (Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell)
When left to their own devices, the vast majority of humans will go out of their way to help other humans.
