To think that actually we are not that bad as they make out?

[MissionItsPossible]

If a non human was to watch the news or read the newspapers (or the AIBU forum ) they'd be horrified and appalled at us but I'm watching Channel 4 news now and it's covering the tragic fire that happened in London early this morning and what struck me is the sheer amount of people and businesses and communities immediately springing in to help, all coming together in empathy and grief. I know the media likes to demonise us and scare us into thinking there's danger lurking at every corner, but really, we are not generally a bad species.

YANBU!

Humans are ace at coming together when its needed.

Most people of different faiths get on ok.

address I think that in particular stood out, you see awful spewing of hatred online, whether in print or people on forums, social media etc and I'm sure a tiny majority will be laughing and enjoying this event seeing as how it was mostly minorities dying, and people set such drawlines and hostility between faiths and religions but at the end of the day we are Human no matter what we believe in and our empathy goes a long way and a lot more they try and make out.

YANBU at all. Most people are kind, decent and will help out those in need.

I was really impressed by all the people who just got involved. Guys from the water company were some of the first at the scene and helped out with the emergency. And then the water authority sent bottled water to the community centres. Good guys

Agreed OP. I went to Manchester a week after the bombing there for a planned weekend away and I was overwhelmed by how everyone was pulling together and helping each other. There was a tremendous sense of togetherness.

Always look for the helpers.

I was going to say that Drawward. Give people the place and the opportunity, and they will be wonderful. When people feel they can make a difference, they are brave and kind.

YANBU OP but I think we are a mixture of the wonderful and the truly appalling. Each side comes out in different circumstances. I once read a book called Humanity: a moral history of the 20th century by Jonathan Glover some years ago. It is a discussion on this very subject. It deals with many atrocities so is not a book for the faint-hearted but it is a deep analysis of how and why we behave towards one another as we do. You cannot finish it thinking of human cruelty and violence as being aberrations when you study the ceaseless tide of bloodshed throughout human history and I'm afraid that has stuck with me. Among many other psychological analyses it is very revealing to read personal accounts from men who have killed in war, and the rapture, exhilaration, liberation and bonding they experience (though that is of course not to deny the horror and trauma experienced by others). I no longer believe we will ever extinguish war from human existence unless men's very natures change. But of course there is the kindness, selflessness and heroism of people too. I'm sure somewhere in the book it points out that it is interesting that we use the word 'humanity' to describe the good in us and 'inhumanity' for the terrible when in fact both these facets of our natures are 'humanity', hence the title of the book.

But people are kind on their own terms. Look at the amount of food and clothes given for the survivors of the fire but where was all this stuff to help the many who are poor and homeless EVERY day?

FreeNiki. We could say that about anything. Glass half full stuff.

Humans can be truly amazing, yes.

Whenever I feel like the world is too much, I get off the internet. If i think about it, of course we all live amongst some of these awful people we come across online, but they know to behave better in real life, but still, day to day, people are amazing.

It seems to depend a lot on how clear and straightforward the right course of action appears.

Disasters bring out the best in a lot of people because it's obvious what needs doing. Also they're often caused by a third party/third factor, so people can be united against something or someone else, which often feels good.

Everyday needs, including ones that can add up to a tipping point where disasters start happening due to neglect, tend not to, and sometimes bring out the worst, partly because people get fed up of the need not going away as fast as they'd like. And the causes are often complex, or at least look complex, so many people don't see any enemy to come together against, so there's no "high" to be got from it.

I don't think the goodness displayed in the former situation takes away from the shittiness displayed in the latter, or vice versa; they're different things.

Sorry, disasters bring out the best when it's obvious what needs doing, I should say.

Sometimes it isn't obvious even with acute needs, and a lot of people shut down and withdraw compassion in that situation, too.

That's why, if you're informing people about a bad thing that's going on, it's important to include information on something they can do about it.

I lived through the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake and people were great too. The heroes of the hour were the young toughies from the roughest part of town who went on to form a group that travels the world helping in earthquakes.

But you wouldn't believe people are like that from hollywood films. When they portray a disaster it is every man for himself, apart from a few heroes.