How would you react in this elevator?

[archbrix]

haxxiy said:

archbrix said:

Yeah, I'm aware of that...

Individuals vary.  Put two different people on a rollercoaster.  While one may have the time of their life, the other may absolutely hate the experience even though they both underwent the exact same thing.

People's states of mind can result in varied behavior as well.  To give an anecdotal example, back when I lived in New Mexico, a teen and his friends smoked a joint and decided to explore the desert a bit.  They came upon a cave and entered with a flashlight.  After several minutes of walking, the flashlight died leaving them in pitch black.  At that instant everyone freaked out, but while most of them abruptly stopped when faced with this, the one boy got scared and started running... and fell to his death in a mine shaft.

Again, people's behavior can vary.  Just look at this thread; most of us would freak out, but while I would (hopefully) remain rational, others stated that they would probably hit her.

I'm not saying the outcome is determined but rather it is predictable enough so most people would still behave in the way that would let them to survive in the wild or we would not be here today otherwise. The episode in the cave you mentioned is proof of that. What kind of animal would go running away without any sensory input at all? Most would stick close to the pack.

Also I would hardly consider the answers in this thread to even consist of anedoctal evidence. Everything always go as expected inside your head after all ...  while in reality the extend to which we control our actions rationally in the face of the powerful influence of hormons and instincts is questionable at best.

No, the incident in the cave further proves my point.  From what I understand, the boy didn't continue to run further into the cave, but instead was trying to run to the exit and misjudged the direction.  He panicked because he was scared and not thinking rationally.  Again, individuals vary.

To apply the thinking that "everything always goes as expected inside your head" is quite erroneous.  Not all people are the same.  If a person had a gun pulled on them near a busy street, they could react differently depending on who they were.  Most would probably freeze, someone with special training may try to disarm the gunman, and another could panic, turning and running into oncoming traffic.  So you're not allowing for unpredictability.

Whether or not people in this thread would actually strike the little girl in the elevator is debatable, however I still stand by my post.