Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner explain why humans are mostly apathetic but seldom altruistic in their book Super Freakonomics. I somewhat agree and disagree with their ideas because humans are innately altruistic. First, they provide a murder case that took place in a peaceful neighborhood. Kitty Genovese, lived here and was stabbed and raped by a man. The whole process lasted 30 minutes, but no one in the neighborhood called the police. Therefore, Levitt and Dubner suggest that humans are apathetic because of the bystander effect (97-100). When there is a group of people, individuals tend to expect others to take action. When the teacher asks a question, I usually expect my classmates will answer the question. Maybe my classmates feel the same way as I do, so the teacher gets
…show more content…
In order to prove Levitt and Dubner’s points of view, they provided data that show the crime rate has quadrupled from the 1950s to the 1970s due to the emancipation of criminals because of limited prison spaces, the post war baby boom, and the introduction of TVs (100-104). Criminals released early from prison are very dangerous because they don’t spend enough time to introspect their crimes. Young men, especially single young men, at that age are agressive and vigorou and are more likely to commit crime. People who watch TV constantly are likely uneducated and commit crime, because TV shows have many negative effects. On the other hand, Levitt and Dubner assert that people are also altruistic to certain degree. The experiment of the prison dilemma that surprised the experimenters. Humans make altruistic decisions that show self-interest (108-110). Furthermore, Levitt and Dubner mention another economist called John List who had sold baseball cards and found out that people are selfless or selfish depending on whether they
In order to prove Levitt and Dubner’s points of view, they provided data that show the crime rate has quadrupled from the 1950s to the 1970s due to the emancipation of criminals because of limited prison spaces, the post war baby boom, and the introduction of TVs (100-104). Criminals released early from prison are very dangerous because they don’t spend enough time to introspect their crimes. Young men, especially single young men, at that age are agressive and vigorou and are more likely to commit crime. People who watch TV constantly are likely uneducated and commit crime, because TV shows have many negative effects. On the other hand, Levitt and Dubner assert that people are also altruistic to certain degree. The experiment of the prison dilemma that surprised the experimenters. Humans make altruistic decisions that show self-interest (108-110). Furthermore, Levitt and Dubner mention another economist called John List who had sold baseball cards and found out that people are selfless or selfish depending on whether they