Why doing the "right" thing may benefit you

Consider this situation:

Suppose you witnessed an group of gangsters bashing up a hapless victim and robbing him on the streets. Would you step up to help the victim?

Let's consider the costs and benefits involved.

The obvious danger when stepping foward to help the victim is that YOU might find yourself being the next victim. The gangsters might simply turn on you and teach you a lesson for being a busybody.

So playing hero in such a scenario is very risky indeed. So why would anyone compromise their safety by going against the gangsters?

The answer is not obvious to most. It is hard to see how putting your safety at risk to help a total stranger would reap any comparable reward.

However, just to illustrate a point, suppose everyone refuses to step forward to help, refusing even to call the police. This fosters an environment that is very beneficial for the gangsters/criminals. They will learn in time that it really pays to rob/steal/rape/murder. There will be no resistance against their criminal activities. Crime will soon be rampant as criminals learn that the cost benefit ratio favours those that rob, plunder and steal. Perhaps even the normally law abidding citizen may figure that it pays to join in the looting.

So who loses out in such a situation? YOU of course, silly! You would be far more likely to be a victim of crime in such an environment. Stepping forward to help a stranger is a form of cooperation between humans in a society. That's how this such seemingly altruistic behaviour evolved in humans.

Therefore the next time you see any bullying, plundering or raping going on (which is suppose occurs in Singapore on a daily basis), think twice before turning a blind eye. You could very well be shooting yourself in the foot.