Somebody else's problem

2021-03-05T05:39:40Z

2603:8000:BB02:30E2:C8C4:228D:2783:5D1A:

short description|Dismissive figure of speech
{{for|the sociopsychological phenomenon|diffusion of responsibility

Somebody else's problem(alsomeone else's problem"is a phrase used to describe an issue which is dismissed by a person on the grounds that they consider somebody else to be responsible for it. The term is also used to refer to a factor that is "[[out of scope]]" in a particular context.ref>{cite web httpmeetings.informs.org/Conf/Miami2001//TALKS/Sponsor-25.html |title=INFORMS Miami 2001 Annual Meeting – TB18.2 Minisum Location with Closest Euclidean Distances |access-date=2008-06-07</ref<not in source|Today noted in go back in realmente put i

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==Douglas Adams==

[[Douglas Adams]]'s 1982 novel ''[[Life, the Universe and Everything]]'' (in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Novels|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' [[comedy science fiction]] series) introduces the idea of an "SEP field" as a kind of [[cloaking device]]. The character [[Ford Prefect (character)|Ford Prefect]] says,

{{quote|An SEP is something we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot.}}

The narration then explains:

{{quote|The Somebody Else's Problem field... relies on people's natural predisposition not to see anything they don't want to, weren't expecting, or can't explain. If Effrafax had painted the mountain pink and erected a cheap and simple Somebody Else’s Problem field on it, then people would have walked past the mountain, round it, even over it, and simply never have noticed that the thing was there.}}

==References by others==

* A 1976 edition of the journal ''[[Ekistics]]'' highlighted the phrase in noting that "One major obstacle to effective bureaucratic action on housing can be called the principle of ''somebody else's problem''."<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=ekistics+1976+somebody+else%27s+problem&btnG= Seventeen reasons why the squatter problem can't be solved], S Angel, S Benjamin - [[Ekistics]], 1976</ref>
* Referring to a team working on a [[computer programming]] project, [[Alan F. Blackwell]] wrote in 1997 that: "Many sub-goals can be deferred to the degree that they become what is known amongst professional programmers as an 'S.E.P.' – somebody else's problem."<ref name=ppig-1997-01>{{Cite journal

|url = http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~afb21/publications/PPIG97.html
|title = Simulating a Software Project: The PoP Guns go to War
|last1 = Blackwell |first1 = Alan F.|author-link= Alan F. Blackwell
|last2 = Arnold |first2 = H.L.
|journal = Proceedings of the 9th Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group
|pages = 53–60
|date = January 1997
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081026050403/http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~afb21/publications/PPIG97.html
|archive-date = 2008-10-25
|url-status = live
|access-date = 2015-03-24
}}</ref>
* Christopher Negus, writing on the origin of [[Unix]] at [[Bell Labs]] in the 1970s, described Bell Labs at the time as "a think tank where ideas came first and profits were somebody else's problem".<ref name=rhel4bib-2006>{{Cite book

|last = Negus
|first = Christopher
|title = Fedora 5 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Bible
|chapter = Linux's roots in Unix (part 1, chapter 1, section 3)
|publisher = Wiley
|location = New York
|via = [[TechTarget]]
|series = Bible (Book 327)
|date = 2006-05-10
|page = 6
|isbn = 978-0-4717-5491-6 
|oclc = 69746564
|chapter-url = http://searchitchannel.techtarget.com/feature/Linuxs-roots-in-Unix
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131213203844/http://searchitchannel.techtarget.com/feature/Linuxs-roots-in-Unix
|archive-date = 2013-12-13
|url-status = live
|access-date = 2015-03-25
}}</ref>{{Original research inline|date=November 2018}}
* Adams' description of an SEP field is quoted in an article of "psychological invisibility", where it is compared to other fictional effects such as the [[perception filter]] in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', as well as cognitive biases such as [[inattentional blindness]] and [[change blindness]].<ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/13/sight-unseen-critic-at-large-kathryn-schulz Sight unseen], Catherine Schulz, [[The New Yorker]], April 13, 2015</ref>

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Buck passing]]
* [[Bystander effect]]
* [[Externality]]
* [[First they came ...]]
* [[Global issue]]
* [[Inattentional blindness]]
* [[NIMBY]] (Not In My Back Yard)
* [[Other people's money (disambiguation)|Other people's money]]
* [[Sheeple]]
* [[Abilene paradox]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{HitchhikerMiscellanea}}

[[Category:Group processes]]
[[Category:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]
[[Category:Perception]]
[[Category:Problem solving]]

[[cs:Seznam pojmů, osob a vynálezů ze Stopařova průvodce po Galaxii#Pole problému někoho jiného]]
[[de:Hintergründe zu Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis#Problem-anderer-Leute-Feld]]

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Somebody else's problem