cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/50513851

Without Batman, only about 38 percent of passengers stood up for the pregnant woman. With Batman, that number leapt to roughly 67 percent. More than two-thirds of riders suddenly remembered they were human beings capable of empathizing with others.

And all it took was the presence of a semi-fascist but admittedly still quite cool lunatic dressed like a bat whose concept of justice begins and ends at beating the s—t out of people with severe mental health issues.

  • rainwall@piefed.social
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    21 hours ago

    “Severe mental health issues” is being rather flippant with batmans rouges gallery. Most are mass murders, many on the genocidal side at that.

    Beating someone to stop them killing tens/hundreds/thousands/millions is pretty easy moral math, no matter how many times it happens.

    • Hanrahan@slrpnk.net
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      18 hours ago

      Beating someone to stop them killing tens/hundreds/thousands/millions is pretty easy moral math, no matter how many times it happens.

      Well, lets hooe we see Batman beating on the orange cheeto soon. An estimated 600,000 kids have died since the suspension of USAid

  • Telex@sopuli.xyz
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    22 hours ago

    Yes, that Batman…

    I’m pretty completely sure it was in fact not that Batman.

      • Telex@sopuli.xyz
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        17 hours ago

        That’s the sliver that makes it only pretty completely sure and not completely sure.

        ~I want to believe~

  • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    “Lots of people are selfish shitheads unless they think there may be immediate consequences for them acting like shitheads” is a well-worn observation on human nature, and is not especially new. Just watch how people drive for the next few miles after they spot a cop on the interstate as an example.

    The fact that apparently these people can’t quite separate the fictional concept of Batman with reality, i.e. the threat of real-world consequences, is somewhat novel. Not especially encouraging, but novel.

    • diaphanous@feddit.org
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      16 hours ago

      That is not the interpretation of the study that I got. I think its not the fact that it was batman, I think it would have worked with a dinosaur costume just as well. It’s more the disruption of the daily drudge that gets people more mindful and aware of their surroundings, which can make them nicer to other human beings.

    • samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      Nobody thought that some guy dressed as Batman was the actual character, or that he had any authority over them. But the idea of Batman, or any other well-known inspirational character, is very real.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      You can scribble eyeballs on a wall with a sharpie and people will behave more honestly.

    • Damage@feddit.it
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      1 day ago

      You misinterpreted the study, from what I gather. It’s not a threat that influences their actions, it’s more an awakening from the torpor of commuting, and an inspirational figure.

  • Dionysus@leminal.space
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    1 day ago

    This must be what people at church feel when they must behave on Sunday after the invisible man in the sky was watching them.