The people in the “what the fuck…” video do seem to feel that things have taken an unexpected turn when stamping on faces starts to happen. It might be wishful thinking on my part, but I suppose it could be argued that they don’t understand the severity of what is happening until that point.
A crowd of people will represent... a crowd of varying subjective view points.
What's interesting and very real is the surrendering of individual morality and behaviour to a group one - which has been researched and written about for a long time, Huxley etc.
You mentioned wishful thinking, I believe it's rather that individuals will project their own decency and goodness onto others and this, I can assure you, is not always the case.
Events may be suddenly beyond the established rules of engagement whatever that is local to the situation but that disassociation is still present.
I feel increasingly, that the aggressor and the laughing voyeur almost share on occasion, the same mocking contempt for another human being.
I witnessed an altercation once in Milton Keynes, involving two men and a bit of lead piping. I don’t remember much about it, other than that it didn’t go off quite as badly as might be expected, and one of the men left. I engaged with the one that was left behind, and I seem to recall that I perceived that he was not the initial aggressor. I asked him if he wanted help of any kind, or to inform the police, or to get checked out at the hospital. He didn’t. A little later, it occurred to me to call the police to see if anyone had reported the incident, and to offer my account if they had. I was given a bit of a lecture about not calling straight away, although this was in the time before mobile phones, so it’s not like I could have rung from where I was anyway.
I wonder if I would have been tempted to film, had I the means to do so? I suspect not. It seems like a thoroughly provocative thing to do. Maybe the evidence would have been useful, but I would have felt endangered myself.
I had to look through the retail altercation video again to spot the people taking selfies. That is seriously odd. I think you must be right that there’s a strange shared experience about it. There are so many weird staged videos these days, too, that people seem ridiculously keen on getting in on any real action.
Yikes, yes, that is horrifying.
The people in the “what the fuck…” video do seem to feel that things have taken an unexpected turn when stamping on faces starts to happen. It might be wishful thinking on my part, but I suppose it could be argued that they don’t understand the severity of what is happening until that point.
A crowd of people will represent... a crowd of varying subjective view points.
What's interesting and very real is the surrendering of individual morality and behaviour to a group one - which has been researched and written about for a long time, Huxley etc.
You mentioned wishful thinking, I believe it's rather that individuals will project their own decency and goodness onto others and this, I can assure you, is not always the case.
Events may be suddenly beyond the established rules of engagement whatever that is local to the situation but that disassociation is still present.
I feel increasingly, that the aggressor and the laughing voyeur almost share on occasion, the same mocking contempt for another human being.
Watching someone else being threatened with a sword is funny until...there's a risk to you :
https://twitter.com/SirThaFella/status/1457132340451237894
Blimey. I fear that some of my prancing around the Lansdown hall is reminiscent of the chap with the sword.
I witnessed an altercation once in Milton Keynes, involving two men and a bit of lead piping. I don’t remember much about it, other than that it didn’t go off quite as badly as might be expected, and one of the men left. I engaged with the one that was left behind, and I seem to recall that I perceived that he was not the initial aggressor. I asked him if he wanted help of any kind, or to inform the police, or to get checked out at the hospital. He didn’t. A little later, it occurred to me to call the police to see if anyone had reported the incident, and to offer my account if they had. I was given a bit of a lecture about not calling straight away, although this was in the time before mobile phones, so it’s not like I could have rung from where I was anyway.
I wonder if I would have been tempted to film, had I the means to do so? I suspect not. It seems like a thoroughly provocative thing to do. Maybe the evidence would have been useful, but I would have felt endangered myself.
I had to look through the retail altercation video again to spot the people taking selfies. That is seriously odd. I think you must be right that there’s a strange shared experience about it. There are so many weird staged videos these days, too, that people seem ridiculously keen on getting in on any real action.