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1549, and various volunteers and agencies offered medical assistance. These rescue efforts were not motivated by personal or commercial self-interests, and none of the commercial vessel captains was lauded as a hero. Their efforts received less attention because their actions were precisely what we expect of one another.

It is the unusual, not the commonplace, that is noticed. On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese parked near her home in Kew Gardens, New York, and proceeded to her residence in a small apartment complex. Winston Moseley, a business machine operator who later confessed that his motive was simply to kill a woman, overtook Genovese and stabbed her twice in the back. Genovese screamed, “Oh my God, he stabbed me! Help me!”, a call that was heard by neighbors. When one neighbor shouted at the attacker, “Leave that girl alone,” Moseley ran away. Genovese, who was wounded and bleeding, moved toward the apartment building slowly and alone. Moseley returned approximately 10 minutes later and searched for Genovese. Finding her nearly unconscious in a hallway of the building, he continued his knife attack on her and sexually assaulted her. The entire attack unfolded over about half an hour, and yet no one responded. The first clear call for help to the police did not occur until minutes following the final attack, and Genovese died in an ambulance en route to the hospital. The number of people who were aware of some aspect of the attack was estimated to be from a dozen to more than three dozen. One unidentified neighbor who saw part of the attack was quoted in a New York Times article as saying “I didn’t want to get involved.” (19). The notion that people might not go to the

aid of another, even a stranger, in dire need led to public outrage. Decades of research led to the conclusion that the ambiguity of the situation and the diffusion of responsibility were contributing factors.

These two news stories illustrate, in very different ways, how invisible forces sculpted by evolution and cultivated by the environment act on our species. When commercial boat captains act against their own financial interests to rescue others on a sinking aircraft, we think nothing of it because we believe it is what any individual in the same situation would naturally do. When observers of a brutal attack do nothing to aid the victim, we are horrified because we believe it goes against who we are as a species. Humans are not motivated solely by self interests but rather we work together and help one another when in need. We survive and prosper in the long term through collective concerns and actions, not by solely selfish pursuits (20).

Danger Signals

The stories of the sardine ball and the penguin huddle suggest that it is dangerous to be on the social perimeter. Living on the perimeter threatens the lives and genetic legacy of humans, as well. Epidemiological studies have found that social isolation is not only associated with lower levels of happiness and well being but with broad based morbidity and mortality (21). Moreover, humans are such meaning-making creatures that perceived social isolation is at least as important a predictor of adverse outcomes on human health and well being as is objective social isolation (22). Writers may spend long periods by themselves, but the envisioned readers make this time feel

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