Picture this, “You have had a long day you missed lunch. You are tired angry and starving. In your pocket, you only have enough cash to grab fries and chicken plus your exact fare to get home.” A sigh of relief right! “Just as you are about to enter you notice a stranded woman just outside the door. She has young children who are wailing, and the woman is equally crying. She looks up to you and requests just a bite or twenty shillings. Please help us” What would you do?

How you act, react or respond to this particular scenario is a social experiment, in itself.  Some tests evaluate the empathy and goodwill of individuals while others test greed. For instance, “a blind man is walking down a street with a briefcase. The case accidentally opens up, and a pile of cash fall from it.” What would you do? Some will help and won’t take any money from the pile while others will take their “fair” share, right?

A social experiment, “tests out how people behave in certain situations or how they respond to particular policies or programs.” In the African context, you cannot critically test the extent of humanity by such a test because we are opportunists.  In a country where we have professional beggars living luxurious lives from their “hustle.” With such incidents, the common man is also suspicious of the people begging or asking for help in the streets. Is it genuine or a guise?

Which social experiment text would you pass greed or empathy? Mirror, mirror on the wall are you genuine?