I was sorta’ hoping that somebody would comment on the SEP field, but I am guessing that at this point, I either don’t have enough readers, or not enough of them are Douglas Adams fans. SEP stands for “Somebody Else’s Problem”, and the term “SEP Field” was used by the late Mr. Adams in his famous Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Deluxe hardcover 25th Anniversary Edition). Whether or not Adams coined the phrase, it reflects his remarkable insight into human nature.
The SEP Field is a psychological force that causes people to ignore (and forget) things that they either don’t understand, or don’t want to deal with. It also describes selective recall when a person observes something that contradicts his or her world-view or superstitions. A typical (almost canonical) example is a story about a rape-murder of a young woman in New York City by over a dozen male gang members, which was witnessed by over 30 people, none of whom called the police. The really sad things about this story is 1) it is a real story, and 2) it isn’t just one story, but a summary of many almost identical stories. To the multitude of witnesses hearing the young woman’s screams for help, it was Somebody Else’s Problem.
When might the SEP Field become your problem?
Supposed you had some sort of accident which put you into a life-threatening situation, but you were still conscious and able to call for help? Yelling out, “Somebody please help me!” is not the most effective way to get help, because people hear “somebody”, and mentally translate that to “somebody else.”
Then what is a better tactic?
“Sir, you with the blue shirt, I need for you to call 9-1-1, and tell them to send an ambulance for a white male age 59 with leg and back injuries. Please do that now.”
What does that do? It breaks the SEP Field, because the problem is no longer Somebody Else’s, but it now belongs to the man in the blue shirt. What’s more, when someone does come to your aid, that action will cause others to do likewise.
The key is to single out a specific person, and make a very specific request for help to that individual, using something that clearly identifies who that individual is to anyone else in the vicinity. It may not work, but it has been demonstrated to be far more effective than a general call for help.
Edit: Just read a similar post [dead linkto http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/03/08/bystander-effect/; post appears to have been removed] on a blog entitled “You Are Not So Smart”.
