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| '''Somebody Else's Problem''' (also known as '''Someone Else's Problem''' or '''SEP''') is a condition where individuals/populations of individuals choose to decentralize themselves from an issue that may be in critical need of recognition. Such issues may be of large concern to the population as a whole but can easily be a choice of ignorance at an individualistic level. Author [[Douglas Adams]]' description of the condition, which he ascribes to a physical "SEP field," has helped make it a generally recognized phenomenon. Somebody Else's Problem used to capture public attention on matters that may have been overlooked and has less commonly been used to identify concerns that an individual suffering symptoms of depression should ignore. This condition has also been employed as trivial shorthand to describe factors that are "out of scope" in the current context.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://meetings.informs.org/Conf/Miami2001//TALKS/Sponsor-25.html |title=INFORMS Miami 2001 Annual Meeting - TB18.2 Minisum Location with Closest Euclidean Distances |accessdate=2008-06-07}}</ref> | | "'''Somebody else's problem'''" or "'''someone else's problem'''" is an issue which is dismissed by a person on the grounds that they consider somebody else to be responsible for it. |
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| ==Psychology== | | ==Examples== |
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| Various areas of [[psychology]] and [[philosophy of perception]] are concerned with the reasons why individuals often ignore issues that are of relative or critical importance. [[Optimism bias]] tends to reduce issues of subjectivity due to the tendency to have thought processes that are overly positive- "Overly positive assumptions can lead to disastrous miscalculations — make us less likely to get health checkups, apply sunscreen or open a savings account, and more likely to bet the farm on a bad investment."<ref name=Sharot>{{cite web|last=Sharot|first=Tali|title=The Optimism Bias|url=http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2074067,00.html|publisher=Time Health|accessdate=May 28, 2011}}</ref>
| | A 1976 edition of the journal ''[[Ekistics]]'' used the phrase in the context of bureaucratic inaction on [[low-income housing]], describing "the principle of ''somebody else's problem''" as something that prevented progress. Where responsibility for a complex problem falls across many different departments of government, even those agencies who wish to tackle the issue are unable to do so.<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> |
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| Where multiple individuals simultaneously experience the same stimulus, [[diffusion of responsibility]] and/or the [[bystander effect]] may release individuals from the need to act, and if no-one from the group is seen to act, each individual may be further inhibited by [[conformity (psychology)#Normative influence|conformity]]. An example of such instances would be the case of Catherine Genovese ([[Murder of Kitty Genovese]]) who on March 13, 1964 was stabbed and killed outside of her apartment building. "Most of the evidence suggests that at least half a dozen-and perhaps many more-of her 30 or so neighbours heard the events but failed to come to her aid. Most didn't even bother to call the police."<ref name=Lilienfeld>{{cite book|last=Lilienfeld|first=et al.|title=Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding|year=2011|publisher=Pearson Canada Inc.|location=Toronto, Ontario|pages=564-565}}</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 |
| | <!-- more info on this cite may someday show up at http://www.ppig.org/workshops/ppig-1997-9th-annual-workshop --> |
| | |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 = 2008-10-26 |
| | |url-status = live |
| | |access-date = 2015-03-24 |
| | }}</ref> |
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| When individuals are exposed to a multitude of messages about pressing matters of concern- [[information overload]] (now also known as Information Fatigue Syndrome) may be a result. In Joseph Ruff's article "Information Overload: Causes, Symptoms and Solutions" Ruff states, "Once capacity is surpassed additional information becomes noise and results in a decrease in information processing and decision quality". <ref name=Nguyen>{{cite web|last=Nguyen|first=Steve|title=Information Overload- When Information Becomes Noise|url=In Joseph Ruff's article "Information Overload: Causes, Symptoms and Solutions" Ruff states, "Once capacity is surpassed additional information becomes noise and results in a decrease in information processing and decision quality".|publisher=Workplace Psychology: People at Work|accessdate=May 18, 2011}}</ref> A student who has spent the entire semester socializing instead of studying would find themselves in a state of information overload the day before a final exam for example.
| | ==Douglas Adams' SEP field== |
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| There may also be a tendency to argue that since a proposed solution does not fit a problem entirely then the entire solution should be discarded. This is an example of a [[perfect solution fallacy]]. "This fallacy is often employed by those who believe ''no'' action should be taken on a particular issue and use the fallacy to argue against ''any'' proposed action".<ref name=Safalra>{{cite web|last=Morley|first=Stephen|title=Perfect Solution|url=http://safalra.com/philosophy/fallacies/perfectsolution/|accessdate=October 1, 2005}}</ref>
| | [[Douglas Adams]]' 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 (physics)|field]]" as a kind of [[cloaking device]]. The character [[Ford Prefect (character)|Ford Prefect]] says, |
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| However, taking responsibility for negative events that are outside an individual's control is related to depression and [[learned helplessness]], particularly in adolescents.<ref name=Curry2005>{{cite web |url=https://trialweb.dcri.duke.edu/tads/tad/manuals/TADS_CBT.pdf |format=pdf |title=Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS) |author=John F Curry |coauthors=Karen C. Wells, David A. Brent, Gregory N. Clarke, Paul Rohde, Anne Marie Albano, Mark A. Reinecke, Nili Benazon, John S. March |work=Cognitive Behavior Therapy Manual - Introduction, Rationale, and Adolescent Sessions |publisher=Duke University Medical Center |date=2000-03-15 |year=2005 |accessdate=2008-06-18}}</ref> Part of the solution is to help the individual to realistically assign a proportion of responsibility to herself/himself, parents and others (step ''I'' in the ''RIBEYE'' [[cognitive behavioral therapy]] problem-solving method).<ref name=Curry2005/><ref name=Zagurski2005>{{cite web |url=http://www.disastermh.nebraska.edu/files/Psychfirstaidtrainersmanual05.pdf |format=pdf |title=Nebraska Psychological First Aid Training Program |author=Robin Zagurski |coauthors=Denise Bulling, Robin Chang |publisher=University of Nebraska Public Policy Center |year=2005 |accessdate=2008-06-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Rohde P, Feeny NC, Robins M |title=Characteristics and Components of the TADS CBT Approach |journal=Cogn Behav Pract |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=186–97 |year=2005 |pmid=17581639 |pmc=1894655 |doi=10.1016/S1077-7229(05)80024-0 }}</ref>
| | The narration then explains: |
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| ==Politics and Economics==
| | 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>[https://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> |
| [[President of France|French president]] [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] warned the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] that "The [decline of the] dollar cannot remain someone else's problem. If we are not careful, monetary disarray could morph into economic war. We would all be victims."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto110920071500182722&page=2 |publisher=Financial Times |author=Krishna Guha |title=The world's currency could become a US problem |date=2007-11-09 |accessdate=2008-06-07}}</ref>
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| ''[[The New York Times]]'' said that when the [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah of Iran]] was exiled in 1979 he became "someone else's problem" from the point of view of [[Jimmy_Carter#Presidency_.281977.E2.80.931981.29|President Carter's]] administration.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE5DD1439F935A35752C1A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 |title=Someone Else's Problem |author=Marvin Zonis |date=1988-11-06 |publisher=The New York Times |accessdate=2008-06-07}}</ref>
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| In the election of 2006, the [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[Centre Party (Sweden)|Centre Party]] used the phrase "[[:sv:nånannanism|nånannanism]]" (someone-else-ism) as a catchword for their campaign.
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| ==Environment and Public Protection==
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| [[British people|British]] politician [[Peter Ainsworth]] acknowledges that "[[climate change]] can seem huge, complex, remote and someone else's problem."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2007/04/climate-change-british-opinion |title=Climate change: Why we don't believe it |author=Lois Rogers |date=2007-04-23 |publisher=New Statesman |accessdate=2008-06-06}}</ref> An example which contributes to the effects of climate change can be viewed within Anthony Penna’s book “The Human Footprint: A Global Environmental History” in which Penna states, “Unregulated local industries continue to pollute the soil, water, and air, while the depletion of local wood reserves for fuel degrades the forests."<ref name=Penna>{{cite book|last=Penna|first=N. Anthony|title=The Human Footprint: A Global Environmental History|year=2010|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=West Sussex, United Kingdom|pages=107}}</ref> Such environmental destruction can be viewed as Someone Else’s Problem since many individuals are unaware of unregulated destruction taking place and when this fact is discovered they may feel as if there is nothing that they themselves can do to contribute to ceasing this process- ultimately linking it to the condition- [[diffusion of responsibility]]. | |
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| Douglas Adams was himself concerned about such failures to recognise the need for action and, with [[Mark Carwardine]], published the book ''[[Last Chance to See]]'', which highlighted endangered animal species.This can coincide with the quotation, “Nature is 'it' not 'thou'”, which sums up the contemporary trend that many individuals/populations have “othered” themselves from the environment resulting in devastating levels of destruction to the land and mass extinction rates.<ref name=Townsend>{{cite book|last=Townsend|first=K. Patricia|title=Environmental Anthropology: From Pigs to Policies Second Edition|year=2009|publisher=Waveland Press, Inc.|location=Long Grove, Illinois|pages=98}}</ref> “The background rate of extinction is somewhere between one and five species per year. But today, the extinction rate appears to be anywhere from 100 to 1,000 times greater than that”<ref name=Wilson>{{cite web|last=Wilson|first=V. Tracy|title=How Extinction Works|url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/evolution/extinction4.htm|publisher=How Stuff Works: Where Stuff Happens}}</ref>
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| ==Technology==
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| The sub-goals of [[programmers]] working on a shared artifact "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>{{cite journal |url=http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~afb21/publications/PPIG97.html |title=Simulating a Software Project |coauthors=A.F. Blackwell and H.L. Arnold |work=Proceedings of the 9th Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group |pages=53–60 |year=1997 |month=January |accessdate=2008-06-06}}</ref> This can be considered an aspect of [[social loafing]] where, in some instances, while working as a team individuals become less productive because they feel less responsible for the final product.
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| [[Unix]] became popular because when it was developed at Bell Labs where "profits were somebody else's problem," so there was no reason not to share the source code with universities.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Linux's roots in Unix |author=Christopher Negus |title=Fedora 5 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Bible (Bible) |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=2006 |pages= |isbn=0-471-75491-9 |url=http://searchsystemschannel.techtarget.com/general/0,295582,sid99_gci1225589,00.html }}</ref> This means that Bell Labs were not concerned with making [[Unix]] a profitable computer operating system and thus in turn making it conveniently accessible to university campuses.
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| ==Fiction ==
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| Within [[Douglas Adams]] third book "[[Life, the Universe and Everything]]" of the series "[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]" his character [[Ford Prefect (character)|Ford Prefect]] describes Somebody Else's Problem as:
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| {{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.... The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you won't see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corner of your eye.}}
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| {{quote|The technology involved in making something properly invisible is so mind-bogglingly complex that 999,999,999 times out of a billion it's simpler just to take the thing away and do without it....... The "Somebody Else's Problem field" is much simpler, more effective, and "can be run for over a hundred years on a single torch battery.}}
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| {{quote|This is because it relies on people's natural predisposition not to see anything they don't want to, weren't expecting, or can't explain.}}
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| In this case, the ''[[Starship Bistromath]]'' ("a small upended Italian bistro" with "guidance fins, rocket engines and escape hatches") has been hidden from the crowd watching a [[Cricket]] match at [[Lord's Cricket Ground|Lord's]] by an SEP field. People may see it, but they take absolutely no notice of it due to the shielding mechanism that does not allow them to view the unique structures of the particular bistro.
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| The book says that the SEP field is derived from [[Bistromathics]] and in particular the concept of an imaginary number called a "recipriversexcluson" whose existence can only be defined as being anything other than itself. Modern science has been slow to investigate this further, though Professor John Wettlaufer (of [[Yale University]]) has apparently observed that it is very important for physicists working outside the mainstream "to have a genuine interest in learning about someone else's problem." However, he admitted that "not many people want to do this."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://physicsworld.com/blog/2008/03/physicists_and_climate_change.html |title=March 2008 Archives - Physicists and climate change |publisher=physicsworld.com |accessdate=2008-06-06}}</ref> | |
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| ==See also== | | ==See also== |
| * [[Inattentional blindness]] | | * [[Abilene paradox]] |
| | * [[Buck passing]] |
| | * [[Bystander effect]] |
| * [[Externality]] | | * [[Externality]] |
| * [[NIMBY]] (Not In My Back Yard) | | * [[First They Came]] |
| * [[Tragedy of the commons]] | | * [[Moral responsibility]] |
| * [[First they came…]] | | * [[NIMBY]] (not in my back yard) |
| * [[Buck passing]] | | * [[Other people's money (disambiguation)|Other people's money]] |
| | * [[Sheeple]] |
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| ==References== | | ==References== |
| {{reflist|2}} | | {{reflist}} |
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| {{HitchhikerMiscellanea}}
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| [[Category:Group processes]] | | [[Category:Group processes]] |
| [[Category:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy technology]] | | [[Category:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]] |
| [[Category:Perception]] | | [[Category:Perception]] |
| | [[Category:Problem solving]] |
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| [[cs:Seznam pojmů, osob a vynálezů ze Stopařova průvodce po Galaxii#Pole problému někoho jiného]] | | [[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]] | | [[de:Hintergründe zu Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis#Problem-anderer-Leute-Feld]] |
"Somebody else's problem" or "someone else's problem" is an issue which is dismissed by a person on the grounds that they consider somebody else to be responsible for it.
Examples
A 1976 edition of the journal Ekistics used the phrase in the context of bureaucratic inaction on low-income housing, describing "the principle of somebody else's problem" as something that prevented progress. Where responsibility for a complex problem falls across many different departments of government, even those agencies who wish to tackle the issue are unable to do so.[1]
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."[2]
Douglas Adams' SEP field
Douglas Adams' 1982 novel Life, the Universe and Everything (in 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 says,
The narration then explains:
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.[3]
See also
References
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
