SWITCH TO MANUAL

Majority of the times people do know what needs to be done and what they want to do. And more often then not what they want to do is different than what actually needs to be done, but they end up doing the wanted thing and not the needed thing.

The needed thing doesn’t get done because many a times it is more complex, more difficult and hence requiring more effort.

Now the human brain is wired as such to find the easiest path or more generally known as ‘path of least resistance’. So, unless conscious effort is put forth to do the right thing, the brain will always do the easier thing. This here is called ‘Auto Mode’ and believe it or not nearly half of the decisions one makes are automatic.

The more automatic one is the harder it gets to take conscious decisions and ‘Switch to Manual’ from automatic.

Now why is ‘Switching to Manual’ important? First experience a fifteen second blank without any thought. Now these fifteen seconds might seem short but it is quiet a long span if you are waiting this much to make a decision.

 Just last week there was a brawl at a gym. The right thing to do was to step in and stop it, and it should have happened almost instantly, but did it? No, it took 15-20 seconds for two people to step in and have them separated. But in those 15-20 seconds gap much was exchanged in terms of words between them.

Sometimes the situation is such that you need to take decisions as quickly as possible, because with every passing second the end result could go from bad to worst.

The current situation after the brawl is that both the parties do not talk to each other. There is always tension lingering in the surroundings when both come close. Had someone immediately stepped in before the situation elevated, current situation might have been different.

Before that a boy riding a motorcycle slipped on the road, seemed like a plastic bag came under the wheel. A few men standing at a tea stall laughed, a few vehicles coming from behind went from aside until after one or two minutes finally an old man came and made him recollect his things. But once again, ONE MINUTE!! Majority of the readers might not be able to relate it but just think what if it was any loved one of yours in that place. Wouldn’t you want people to come and help?

From a third persons perspective, as in India where people claim to be more socially connected and approachable, we say, we differ from the western culture in a way that if something happens to someone in a public place, chances of people in surroundings coming to help are more in India than any other country. But this incident begs the question; are they? Or are we like any other country where something happens to someone in a public place and hardly anyone bats an eyelid.

We might claim to be more helpful but the situation states otherwise. And so, the question is not;

What will be the major impact because of it? Or,

Whether or not is this important?

But the question definitely is;

Why are we not stepping up?

Has the current generation changed?

Are these values not passed on to generation Y and Z from generation X?

Has the virtual reality and social media made us more conservative than we should be?

Research done by numerous psychologists suggests that unlike expectation, people standing by in groups tend not to help when they see someone in need of help. Abundance of option made them think that they don’t need to do it because someone else will. Everyone thinks they are somehow not responsible to take action because someone else will.

So now that we know what’s happening is wrong, can we do something to change it? Yes, what we can do is start stepping up, start taking initiative and help people around us, we should ‘Switch to Manual’ because many a times things like these don’t happen automatically. The best-case scenario would be that every time we help someone consciously, the mental wiring would change and sooner or later we wouldn’t require ‘Switching to Manual’ and helping someone would become automatic.

In generality when person faces a situation where it requires him to take a conscious action, two questions arise;

1. CAN I help him?

2. SHOULD I help him?

Usually what people do is they answer the second question without even considering the first one. What should happen is that we should answer the first question and if it is answered ‘YES’ we should not consider the second one.

HELPING OTHERS SHOULD NOT BE A MATTER OF CHOICE, IT SHOULD BE A MATTER OF PRIORITY.

When I say ‘Help others’, by that I do not mean to say start an NGO, or donate half of your existing wealth, but what I do mean is, whenever situation demands, take initiative, as much as you can, as far as you can.

Help doesn’t necessarily need to be in monetary terms always, there is a lot more people can help with. Help for a mentally distressed individual would be to give him hope, to listen to him; Help for a student would be guidance provided by an elder; Help to an under performing employee can be a boost of motivation from his boss; Help to the sick can be service; Help to the hungry would be providing food.

It is all about doing your bit. And if enough people do their bits, there might not be any significant impact visible to everyone of us, but the sense of life, the quality of your life, quality of your surroundings will surely improve. ‘Doing what we can is more than enough in this world where people are suffering’ from hunger, mental distress, financial instability, health issues and god knows what more. Being an intellectual species, we should have this characteristic of helping within ourselves. So,

‘Switch to Manual’ – To help others

‘Switch to Manual’ – To support others

‘Switch to Manual’ – To do your bit

‘Switch to Manual’ – To be happy

‘Switch to Manual’ – To make others happy

‘Switch to Manual’ – To make this world a better place.

So, the next time you face a situation where you see someone in need of help,

Step-up,

Take initiative, and

Instead of asking ‘SHOULD I help or not?’ ask ‘CAN I help or not?’

And decide is it good to be a Helper? or a By-stander? 

Written By:

Nihar H. Mehta