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The Evil of Inaction

Throughout history, people have grappled with the question, "What is evil?" One

approach to look at it is as a philosophical or academic issue that might be answered by an

adequate philosophical insight and reasoning. In another sense, though, it is an issue that goes

beyond the realm of academia. When faced with a difficulty in one's own life, it frequently turns

into an existential dilemma, meaning it impacts one's whole existence. Evil is defined as

"knowing better but doing worse," according to the Lucifer effect book (Zimbardo, 22).

We sense no conflict between the Aspects of Justice and our experience in the world

when we are young and innocent and think that all that occurs in the world is fair and good.

Nothing we see or feel in the world deviates much from our expectations of how things should

be. As Zimbardo argues in his book, The Lucifer Effect, people are neither good nor bad. To the

contrary, individuals' behaviors are shaped by systemic and context-specific factors, and "decent

people may be enticed, lured and started into acting in a wicked manner" (211)

You never know when someone you care passionately about and who you know to be a

nice person will have the awful displeasure of having to go through severe and unjustified agony.

This might happen to anybody. Seeing it happen, seeing that decent person suffer so much

unwarranted harm, defies every sense of fairness we've ever had. We're shocked, maybe even
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enraged, and we're furious that a fair and just world could permit such a heinous act to take

place. If we were raised to believe in a supreme being, such as God or a higher power, we are

likely to be furious and upset when we discover that he (or she) is not the fair and righteous

person we thought he (or she) was.

This wrath may be so intense that it can lead to a complete abandonment of all faith and

trust in the existence of God, justice, or order. Only individuals who have grown up believing in

a conventional Judeo-Christian-Islamic God may think this is an issue, if they think about it

superficially. It is clear, however, that the dilemma remains for anybody who thinks that there is

a wider moral order in the world, i.e., anyone who believes that things come to pass as they

should and that nothing in the cosmos is fundamentally out of place. There is an issue with evil

even for individuals who do not believe in a higher power or a divine plan.

A person may turn their back on another person or walk out of the room, or even refuse

to talk or listen to them when they are very enraged by their behavior. It's as if they're attempting

to pretend that the other person doesn't exist. Another possibility is that a person may turn their

back on God out of sheer rage at God for what they believe to be a serious infringement on the

fundamental principles of fairness and justice in the cosmos. This God may no longer be heard or

spoken to by them, and they may even come to behave as if he no longer existed in any shape or

form at all.

There is an existential dimension to the question of evil, rather than merely an intellectual

one. As a result of seeing the seeming mismatch between one's previous beliefs about God (fair,

just, kind, loving, powerful etc.) and the events that have occurred to a decent person they care

greatly about, this might occur. The "century of mass slaughter" is upon us. Executions were

carried out by troops and civilians who were prepared to carry out the commands of the
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government (Zimbardo, 31). Terrified screams might be heard for minutes at a time. Violence is

being heard by some persons. They put their hands over their ears and their eyes are closed.

Despite the fact that they are all aware of what is taking on, none of them do something about it.

When confronting a crime culprit, you don't have to be afraid; police can handle that. They don't.

They've just decided not to aid someone they can see and hear who is in distress. This is where

the bystander effect's enigma resides.

The archetype of the "Good Samaritan" seems to be extinct in today's society. We are

bombarded on a daily basis with news articles and social media posts about individuals going

through hell while vast crowds stand by and do nothing. The bystander effect was first studied in

depth many years ago by a team of experts. Interest grew in 1964 after the rape and murder of

Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York. No one interfered or notified the police despite the

presence of many witnesses, who both heard and witnessed the crime. Scientists were eager to

discover what had occurred and why no one had attempted to intervene. Years of study and

investigation were devoted to figuring out what went wrong in this particular incidence of

aberrant group psychology.

According to research, the bystander effect is a phenomenon in which members in a

group oppose the idea of aiding one another. Even though the group is aware of the incident,

they allow it to go through. The greater the crowd, the more probable it is that no one will

intervene if someone is injured, according to researchers. Bystanders to the action may be found

here. Psychologists have been fascinated by the bystander effect for a long time. It would be

incorrect to refer to the bystander effect in the instance of Kitty Genovese as "apathy." Onlookers

may sympathize with the situation and perhaps want to assist. Several circumstances make it

impossible for them to assist. These onlookers may even feel bad in the future for their actions.
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Mob mentality and "collective consciousness" have long been seen in the general

populace. When John M. Darley and Bibb Latané were asked to investigate the Kitty Genovese

case in 1968, they decided to do an official laboratory study because of its notoriety. A huge

group of people, according to their study, prevents individuals from taking action. In fact, Bibb

Latané conducted a bystander effect trial a year later. 70% of onlookers noticed and cried out to

the prospective victim when they saw a lady in difficulty. Only 40% of those surveyed took the

time to assist (DARLEY, and LATANE).

It was discovered in study that individuals of a group were unable to take action because

they expected others to do so. People in a group typically rely their choices on the actions or

inactions of others around them. Hesitation or a reluctance to go against the grain may be to

blame for this conduct. An example of this dynamic is when no one phones 911 when they

observe an accident because they think someone else would. This dynamic may be seen in a less

extreme form, such as when students in a class refuse to ask the instructor any more questions,

even though the teacher explicitly urges them to do so. The most probable explanation is that

they don't want to be seen as different from the others in the group who don't seek for assistance.

Anyone in a big group who observes criminal activity but does not come forward may begin to

question whether or not it is an emergency.

Evolutionary development may be a factor in this phenomenon. In other words, if a large

group of individuals does nothing, there may be some protection. Latané's research found that

each person's interpretation of the event and their sense of responsibility for the consequences of

their actions affect the level of urgency. Other considerations include whether the individual is

entitled to assistance, if they can help themselves, and how much of a duty the bystander has to

help based on their connection with the person in need. The absence of a link might be a factor.
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All of these people were strangers to Genovese. Because of this, many witnesses

compromised their conscience in order to escape any penalties. Inaction might also be explained

by the observer's knowledge of the surrounding surroundings, such as the streets, exits, and

possible sources of assistance. It may be more difficult for them to aid the victim if they are in an

unfamiliar situation, just like the victim, because of an instinct for self-preservation.

Group cohesion is perhaps the most readily apparent motivation among individuals. For

example, a close-knit community or small neighborhood is more likely to assist since these

individuals are already familiar with one another. It is more probable that people will respond as

a group if the group is more cohesive (Romer, np). Not only is it required of police officers to act

in the most perilous circumstances, but they also function as a cohesive unit. A "hero" is more

likely to save a victim he recognizes as having characteristics similar to his own than if he

doesn't. There is evidence that onlookers are more inclined to aid a victim if they share some

component of their identity with them, according to the journal Personality and Social

Psychology Bulletin. As a result, the victim is made to seem "familiar," and a false sense of

community is created.

People in major cities (where nighttime is viewed as unsafe and unwelcoming) are

typically unfamiliar with one another, which may explain why many did not act in Genovese's

instance. Because the more objective people stay about this "foreign person," the less inclined

they are to respond emotionally and take risks, the bystander effect psychology relies on

connection among family, friends, and kinds (especially religious, political, professional, or

class-based).

According to UCLA anthropologist, Yunxiang Yan, in the case of Wang Yue and a

subsequent incident in China in which CCTV footage from a Shanghai subway displayed
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passengers fleeing from a non - resident who fainted, the responses can be described not only by

earlier reports of scamming from elderly people for assistance, but also by historical differences

in culture in Chinese agrarian society, where individuals associated with in a stark contrast "One

of the most difficult issues facing modern Chinese society is how to treat strangers with respect.

Kinship relationships and close-knit communities are the foundation of traditional Chinese

ethics. A person's social group may be treated extremely well by the individual. However, if you

turn around and face a stranger, you can become quite wary. We may even take advantage of the

stranger if we see fit " (Langfitt, np). Chinese society is progressing in the right way despite

Yan's belief that the younger generation is developing more inclusive ideals since they have

grown up in a more worldwide culture.

Only the desire of one side to never address the issue substantively has the weight of

objectivity. It is the policy viewpoint of some, regardless of who dies or how many people die,

that inactivity is acceptable. Regardless matter what happens, the answer is always the same:

inactivity in the face of tragedy, sorrow, and evil. As a society, we have a lot of rhetoric about

morality and heroic "gunslinger" ideas, but many are still hesitant to do anything that can

genuinely aid those in need. Nothing except kind thoughts and prayers may be seen here.

Thoughts and prayers are only pretexts for passivity in this situation. James, Jesus' brother and

author of the same-named New Testament Epistle, foresaw the dangers of our inactivity. This

letter's second chapter asks this question: "What good does it do, dear brothers and sisters, for a

man to claim to have faith but not to perform good works? Can he be saved by faith? What good

is it if one of you tells a brother or sister, "Go in peace, be warmed and fed; nonetheless, you do

not offer them those things which are necessary to the body?" (James 2.14-2.15, KJV Bible).
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Good can never be bad. However, it is worrying whether we are so engrossed in the

unfathomable that we cannot see what this world has left in the aftermath of her inactivity. Evil

and inactivity are both morally repulsive. In particular, if the authorized reaction to an evident

need is inactivity, this is a problem.

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Works cited

DARLEY, JOHN, and BIBB LATANE. "BYSTANDER INTERVENTION IN

EMERGENCIES". Psychology.Okstate.Edu, 2022,

https://psychology.okstate.edu/faculty/jgrice/psyc3214/Darley_Latane_1968.pdf.

Langfitt, Frank. "Why Did Crowd Flee Shanghai Subway After Foreigner Fainted?". Npr.Org,

2022, https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/09/01/344033379/why-did-crowd-flee-

shanghai-subway-after-foreigner-fainted.

Romer, Dan. "Group Cohesiveness, Social Norms, And Bystander Intervention". Academia.Edu,

2022,

https://www.academia.edu/66363870/Group_cohesiveness_social_norms_and_bystander

_intervention.

Zimbardo, Philip G. The Lucifer Effect. Rider, 2008.