Kind strangers

[Pinball1970]

Strangers being kind can be explained by Evolution, altruism makes sense, it is still nice when it happens though.

So my story for the weekend.

Our guitar player is a lovely soul, talented (very) intelligent, funny. He had a tough day, festival gig, much more than the rest of us, long drive two gigs in a few hours and a stack of personal stuff by 8pm he was done.
He was driving home separately and was low on fuel, gas station shut and the next was ten miles away, we are on a windy B road.
No problem, we can rig up the car to our van and tow him, unfortunately because none of us are farmers, mechanics or in construction it did not hold after two goes.
Plan B, half the band dive off in the van to get fuel in a jerry and I'll wait with our stressed guitarist and his vehicle.
Five minutes a couple stop ask if we are ok, a few minutes later an old couple offer to take us to the next gas station. 9am it's pretty dark now, dangerous bend cars approaching from both sides at speed and cars coming from the front round the bend would see our car late.
A single lady stops, gets out of the car with two cans of coke.
Then the police arrive, they assess and place a man near the bend Infront and one behind both warning approaching cars to slow down.
They both put their lives at risk to keep us safe. Something as trivial as low fuel put their lives in danger.
People have the potential to be good, great in fact.

 

[exchemist]

Strangers being kind can be explained by Evolution, altruism makes sense, it is still nice when it happens though.

So my story for the weekend.

Our guitar player is a lovely soul, talented (very) intelligent, funny. He had a tough day, festival gig, much more than the rest of us, long drive two gigs in a few hours and a stack of personal stuff by 8pm he was done.
He was driving home separately and was low on fuel, gas station shut and the next was ten miles away, we are on a windy B road.
No problem, we can rig up the car to our van and tow him, unfortunately because none of us are farmers, mechanics or in construction it did not hold after two goes.
Plan B, half the band dive off in the van to get fuel in a jerry and I'll wait with our stressed guitarist and his vehicle.
Five minutes a couple stop ask if we are ok, a few minutes later an old couple offer to take us to the next gas station. 9am it's pretty dark now, dangerous bend cars approaching from both sides at speed and cars coming from the front round the bend would see our car late.
A single lady stops, gets out of the car with two cans of coke.
Then the police arrive, they assess and place a man near the bend Infront and one behind both warning approaching cars to slow down.
They both put their lives at risk to keep us safe. Something as trivial as low fuel put their lives in danger.
People have the potential to be good, great in fact.

It has long been a theory of mine that most people are very happy to jump in and help if they feel they can safely do so, provided it will not drag them into some kind of messy commitment they can't see the end of. We saw a lot of this during the covid period. It was as if we just needed an excuse to approach a neighbour and ask if we could do anything to help. I have often found this to be so, and have often recognised this impulse in myself. I think we all want to be useful. It makes us feel good about ourselves.

I am sure this is what motivates a lot of the people that work in emergency services for example, from nurses to policemen. And when I was working I really lived for those moments when I had the expertise or the authority to sort out somebody's problem.

 

[Luchito]

If evolution inspires being kind to others, perhaps that comes from Darwin first attempts to becoming a clergyman when studying at Cambridge the story of the good Samaritan.

 

[exchemist]

If evolution inspires being kind to others, perhaps that comes from Darwin first attempts to becoming a clergyman when studying at Cambridge the story of the good Samaritan.

Darwin did apparently write about how natural selection could lead to the development of altruistic behaviour, due to it aiding the survival of the group, albeit at the expense of the individual. There does not seem to be any evidence of religious intent or influence in what he wrote.