Researchers did a study to understand the "bystander problem" -- why is it that very good people will fail to help a person in need? What they found, surprisingly, is that the one factor above all others that predicted likelihood of helping was the number of witnesses -- ironically the more there are, the less likely anyone is to help. It's as if there's a limited amount of "hero power" present at any crime, and gets diluted with each extra witness until a large crowd is rendered virtually useless.
The lesson: If you're walking down a dark street, bring only your best friend along and ditch the rest!
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