To give or not to give ... is that in question?

I enjoyed this clip for various reasons. 
Initially I reacted with empathy, right in line with the intentions of the clip. Then I thought, this actually challenges social norms, self concept and assumptions, then I thought, it's a great clip to use and dig a bit deeper - particularly when I visited the page and witnessed the somewhat aggressive arguments it had provoked between people, some claiming it was the best clip on the internet, others claiming it was a sad indictment of how far we've fallen as a society and yet others claiming it was (expletive expletive) offensive while calling those who liked it some quite nasty names.

For me there are a few things to highlight, which will help a deeper thinking process...

60 Seconds that will change how you think.

1. The people approached in the restaurant were interrupted having paid for their meal - they were invested in their social conditions, they had formed a comfort zone in respect to their situation.
2. Being approached by a random stranger, inside a restaurant is quite a shock to such a mental model of the world for these people - their immediate response is bound to be defensive.
3. The guy asking the questions didn't offer any reason for his request, there was no 'Soft-start' to the conversation. Although his tone was mild and polite, he launched straight in with a question most would find completely outside of normality in such a situation.

Whereas ...

4. The homeless guy had just received a kind gesture from random strangers
5. He wasn't in the restaurant having paid for the Pizza
6. The question of 'sharing' was preceded by a softer question, 'do you have any pizza left in that box'
7. It might be imagined that there is a much deeper sense of camaraderie between strangers in desperate times than there is in affluent times, pre-disposing anyone who is hard up against it to think more of others in need, because they have the 1st hand experience of the emotional and physical pain that goes hand-in-glove with hunger and sleeping rough.

Then there is the fact that the boy is dressed well with gold chains around his neck. Although this might be seen as a mitigating factor and used to rationalise and justify peoples responses after the fact, the speed of reaction in the clip suggests no-one was weighing up the boys social position before they made their decision to either share or not.

The few points above combine to form a very different set of social dynamics in the different scenario's. And that is the interesting bit, as it provides a metaphor for principles we can all become more aware of throughout life, especially within groups of people, e.g. within the family home or at work. It's a great way to consider psychological principles such as Self-betrayal, Self-deception and Collusion.

We react to situations, largely in line with the expectations we have of the situation, ourselves and others. If we have expectations, i.e. beliefs in what will happen, anything that challenges that world view can come as a shock.

So, in line with such principles we can start to ask deeper questions about 'behaviour' at work. What do we 'expect' people to do in certain situations, do we expect the boss to ignore the H&S rules and walk across the shop floor without a hard-hat or safety boots, or do we expect him/her to be the one who insist's on everyone donning their PPE and leading by example? Do we expect people to do what's best for them (which often equates to 'most convenient') or do we expect people to do what's best for others - do we volunteer to wash up after dinner, or do we sit on the sofa hoping someone else will resign themselves to sorting out before you have to?

If we're going to consider 'behaviour' at work, in families or in society, all of this and a whole lot more MUST be understood and integrated into our normalised world view.

As Wittgenstein famously said,
"The limit of my language, is the limit of my world"

If we're to advance on the current state and take the world of 'Change' to a new level for the human race, we have to accept and integrate the language of Neuroscience and Psychology... then we can assess situations like the one presented in the video with the depth and understanding they deserve.