After reading this weeks chapter I found that the last topic discussed was the most interesting to me. This topic is Diffusion of Responsibility, which is defined as "the tendency, when in a large group, to regard a problem as belonging to someone else" (Boss. J, 122). At first that did not make sense to me but after I reread the section it was a lot clearer. To me this meant that as humans we tend to stray from situation that do not involve us when we are in the public spaces because it is not our business. I read the sections a second time and thought of a prefect example, which was that last weekend I saw a guy skating by me that fell straight onto his face and hands. This happened 10-15 feet away from me, yet as rude as it may seem I did know that guy nor was it my problem so I kept walking assuming he would get up or receive aid. This was on campus with many other that saw the incident so I felt like some one closer might help him. After reading this like many of you, I think, I see that this Diffusion happens in our lives too often. I feel like learning how better monitor this will really help us develop of critical thinking to new heights.
Heisenberg
Hello there Heisenberg! You made me (and probably others in the class) better understand the ideas behind diffusion. I too think that sometimes we might witness something and assume that another person will take care of the responsibility. I know for myself once on 280 I witnessed a pretty serious accident and I had to swerve around to avoid it. I then pulled over to call 911. I was the only one to pull over and it got my thinking that I might be one of the only people that called to get help to those in the accident. Some might have just called while driving but I was too shaken up. In either case sometimes in less serious instances diffusion is just a part of life, but if we recognize it we can make a difference and take on the responsibility if we need to.
ReplyDeleteI agree, diffusion of responsibility is a very interesting topic. I have fallen victim to this myself and have found myself blaming someone else or separating myself from the problem. I think that in order to deal with this, we first have to be able to step back and realize that we're doing it. Nobody likes to take the blame for something and in my case, that feeling is very strong. It's necessary to identify this problem and deal with it in order to become a better critical thinker. Step back, evaluate, and then attack the problem. Thanks again for sharing your insight and interest on the topic of diffusion of responsibility.
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