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| {{original synthesis|date=July 2016}}
| | '''Somebody else's problem''' (also known as '''someone else's problem''' or '''SEP''') is a phrase coined comedically by [[Douglas Adams]], which has passed into the vernacular. |
| '''Somebody else's problem''' (also known as '''someone else's problem''' or '''SEP''') is a psychological effect where people choose to dissociate 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 by an individual. Author [[Douglas Adams|Douglas Adams']] comedic description of the condition, which he ascribes to a physical "SEP field," has helped make it a generally recognized phenomenon. Somebody Else's Problem has been 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. | |
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| ==Psychology== | | ==Origin== |
| Various areas of [[psychology]] and [[philosophy of perception]] are concerned with the reasons 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 news|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|date=2011-05-28}}</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]]. The [[murder of Kitty Genovese]], who on March 13, 1964, was stabbed and killed outside of her apartment building, has classically been given as an example: "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|title=Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding|year=2011|publisher=Pearson Canada Inc.|location=Toronto, Ontario|pages=564–565|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Subsequent research has questioned media reports of the killing and characterized it as "repeatedly misrepresented."<ref name="manning">{{cite journal| last = Manning| first = R. |author2=Levine, M |author3=Collins, A.| title = The Kitty Genovese murder and the social psychology of helping: The parable of the 38 witnesses| journal = [[American Psychologist]]| volume = 62| issue = 6| pages = 555–562|date=September 2007
| | Within {{H2G2|book|3|link=yes}} of [[Douglas Adams|Douglas Adams']] ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Novels|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' [[science fiction]] series, his character [[Ford Prefect (character)|Ford Prefect]] describes somebody else's problem as: |
| | doi = 10.1037/0003-066X.62.6.555| pmid = 17874896 }}</ref>
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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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| When individuals are exposed to a multitude of messages about pressing matters of concern, [[information overload]] (now also known as "information fatigue syndrome"<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://lis.sagepub.com/content/33/3/109|title = Information Poverty or Overload?|last = Goulding|first = Anne|date = 2001|journal = Journal of Librarianship and Information Science|doi = 10.1177/096100060103300301|pmid = |access-date = }}</ref>) 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.
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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>
| | {{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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| However, taking responsibility for negative events that are outside an individual's control is related to [[Major depressive disorder|depression]] and [[learned helplessness]], particularly in adolescents.<ref name=Curry2005>{{Cite web
| | 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. |
| |url = https://trialweb.dcri.duke.edu/tads/tad/manuals/TADS_CBT.pdf
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| |format = PDF
| | ==In popular culture== |
| |title = Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS)
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| |author = John F. Curry
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| |author2 = Karen C. Wells, David A. Brent, Gregory N. Clarke, Paul Rohde, Anne Marie Albano, Mark A. Reinecke, Nili Benazon, John S. March
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| |work = Cognitive Behavior Therapy Manual – Introduction, Rationale, and Adolescent Sessions
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| |publisher = Duke University Medical Center
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| |date = 2000-03-15
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| |publication-date = 2005
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| |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140301085844/https://trialweb.dcri.duke.edu/tads/tad/manuals/TADS_CBT.pdf
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| |archive-date = 2014-03-01
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| |dead-url = no
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| |accessdate = 2015-03-24
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| }}</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 |author2=Denise Bulling, Robin Chang |publisher=University of Nebraska Public Policy Center |year=2005 |accessdate=2008-06-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=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>
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| ==Politics and economics==
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| [[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> | | [[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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| 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. | | 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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| In an interview by [[Bloomberg News]] on Dec 15, 2014, on domestic politics [[Hungarian prime minister]] [[Viktor Orbán]] stated that "Hungarians welcomed illiberal democracy; the fact that in English it means something else is not my problem," which is an indirect reference to SEP.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-15/hungary-on-path-to-shed-junk-grade-and-shield-forint-orban-says.html |title=Hungary on Path to Shed Junk Grade and Shield Forint |date=2014-12-15 |publisher=Bloomberg News |accessdate=2014-12-15}}</ref>
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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>
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| 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 name=pw-2008-03>{{Cite web
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| | url = http://physicsworld.com/blog/2008/03/physicists_and_climate_change.html
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| | title = Physicists and climate change
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| | last = Johnston
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| | first = Hamish
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| | date = 2008-03-11
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| | website = [[Physics World]]
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| | publisher = IOP Publishing Limited, Institute of Physics
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| | location = Bristol BS1 6HG, UK
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| | series = [http://blog.physicsworld.com/category/aps-march-meeting-2008/ American Physical Society Category Archives: APS March Meeting 2008]
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| | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140304155816/http://blog.physicsworld.com/2008/03/11/physicists-and-climate-change/
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| | archive-date= 2014-03-04
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| | dead-url = no
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| | access-date = 2015-03-24
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| }}</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 name=ppig-1997-01>{{Cite journal | | 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 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 --> | | <!-- more info on this cite may someday show up at http://www.ppig.org/workshops/ppig-1997-9th-annual-workshop --> |
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| }}</ref> This means that Bell Labs were not concerned with making Unix a profitable computer operating system, instead making it conveniently accessible to university campuses. | | }}</ref> This means that Bell Labs were not concerned with making Unix a profitable computer operating system, instead making it conveniently accessible to university campuses. |
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| ==Fiction==
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| Within {{H2G2|book|3|link=yes}} of [[Douglas Adams|Douglas Adams']] ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Novels|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' [[science fiction]] series, 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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| The narration then explains:
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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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| 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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| ==See also== | | ==See also== |
Somebody else's problem (also known as someone else's problem or SEP) is a phrase coined comedically by Douglas Adams, which has passed into the vernacular.
Origin
Within Template:H2G2 of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy science fiction series, his character Ford Prefect describes somebody else's problem as:
Template:Quote
The narration then explains:
Template: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.
In popular culture
French president Nicolas Sarkozy warned the 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."[1]
The New York Times said that when the Shah of Iran was exiled in 1979 he became "someone else's problem" from the point of view of President Carter's administration.[2]
In the election of 2006, the Swedish Centre Party used the phrase "nånannanism" (someone-else-ism) as a catchword for their campaign.
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."[3] 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.
Unix became popular because 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.[4] This means that Bell Labs were not concerned with making Unix a profitable computer operating system, instead making it conveniently accessible to university campuses.
See also
References
Template:HitchhikerMiscellanea
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
