A suicide near the Nanpu Bridge

To the usual indifference of the bystanders at these situations, and the professed indifference of your SO's mother. Although not being personally acquainted with your SO's mother, who may well be an excellent person, I can't say whether she would have rushed to the assistance of the lemming on the pavement.

I once saw a photograph of a Qing dynasty Prince being tortured to death by the 'thousand cuts' method. The expressions on the faces of the crowd were similar to the ones you see in crowds watching motorbike accidents today. Nothing changes.

i wwas not there in the initial moments: when i got there, the police were already there, and were attempting to handle the situation, so if there was some kind of "apathy," i certainly couldn't be the judge of it. i don't klnow if this situation really qualifies as part of the bystander problem. Certianly, i felt it odd that they just let the blood seep from his head, without trying to wrap it up or something--and in this case, if you are going to blame someone blame the police and not the bystanders since it was a police problem by then. Of course they could have been waiting for the medics to show up, and not have had any medical expertise themselves.

TW: were you referring to utter disinterest on thhe expressions of people in the picture, or my SO's mother, or myself?

Well said, blamegame.

Th so-called 'bystander problem' existed long before the Cultural Revoltion. It was the focus of much of Lu Xun's work - who wrote in the 30s - but is quite frequently written off as a by-product of Maoism, which it clearly is not. Read the short story Kong Yi Ji for a good example of this.

Mao preyed on sociological problems which already existed in Chinese society - he didn't create them himself.

Hmmm. Note the contradictory reaction: a huge crowd gathers (as at any road accident, fatal stabbing, arrest, spilt-soy sauce on new silk blouse scenario) and yet there is a profession of utter disinterest.

I don't really get it - one of these reactions is just a front for the other. But which one?

Who's to say that people weren't like that before the cultural revolution. Which in turn led to people's life experiences during that time.

The unfortunate part of the story may not actually be the suicide you wrote about, but the fact that the SO's mother was so apathetic due to her lafe's experiences. Sad, but it may give us a peak at why so many are conditioned to mind their own business here.

that was funny, can you say it again?

I hate it when my wife commits suicide, especially when she hasn't even cooked my dinner yet!

I hate it when my wife commits suicide, especially when she hasn't even cooked my dinner yet! (and washed the dishes!)

I am drinking some green tea now.

Its apparantly also good for alleviating dry eyes.