Real-World Examples
- In 1964, Kitty Genovese, a New York woman, was raped and stabbed to death near her apartment in the presence of several witnesses (reports vary wildly as to the actual number of witnesses). Reports of witnesses' inaction prompted research into possible explanations, which helped develop the concepts of diffusion of responsibility and the bystander effect.
- In a firing squad, one or more of the shooters may be randomly issued a weapon containing a blank cartridge rather than a bullet. This allows each of the members of the firing squad to believe that they did not fire the fatal shot.
- In some electric chairs there are many switches, only one of which is connected. The executioners may then choose to believe that they pulled a non-functional switch.
The diffusion of responsibility for alleged war crimes during World War II was famously used as a legal defense by many of the Nazis being tried at Nuremberg. A similar defense was mounted by the defendants accused in the My Lai massacre.
Read more about this topic: Diffusion Of Responsibility
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“It is hardly to be believed how spiritual reflections when mixed with a little physics can hold people’s attention and give them a livelier idea of God than do the often ill-applied examples of his wrath.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)