Small acts of kindness are frequent and universal

[SorellaLaBefana]

Even more heartening, as the unrelated pic above (from an article on social grooming) shows, such behaviour may have been around for a very long while indeed.

Around the world...people help each other about every 2 minutes...

A study found that people around the world signal others for assistance every couple of minutes. The research, which examined behaviors in towns and rural areas in several different countries, revealed that people comply with these small requests for help far more often than they decline them. The findings suggest that people from all cultures have more similar cooperative behaviors than prior research has established...

...Across cultures, people comply with these small requests far more often than they decline them. On the rare occasions when people do decline, they explain why.

Those human tendencies -- to help others when needed and to explain when such help can't be given -- transcends cultural differences, suggesting that, deep down, people from all cultures have more similar cooperative behaviors than prior research has established...


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230424162911.htm

[Phoenix61]

1. Yes they are. If I have learned nothing else from my

travels through 7 countries over the past 3 months it’s that the vast majority of people are good and kind and helpful. It makes me hopeful for the future.

[Hortensis]

2. "when we zoom in on the micro level of social interaction, cultural difference mostly goes away,

and our species' tendency to give help when needed becomes universally visible." ...

"The preference for compliance held across all cultures and was unaffected by whether the interaction was among family or non-family members.

People helped without explanation, but when they declined, 74% of the time they gave an explicit reason. That suggests that while people decline helping only for a good reason, they give help unconditionally, without needing to explain why they are doing it."

Thanks, Sorella.