Last week I went to the mall to meet a friend for lunch and do some Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, my friend had a family emergency and couldn’t make it for lunch, but I had several stores to visit so I carried on. 45 minutes later, loaded with bags and feeling gratified that I’d managed to find everything I was looking for, I exited the Target store into the center of the mall, right next to a Starbucks.

As I walked out of the store, my mind on other things, I happened to notice a small puddle of water on the floor right in my path. Just as the puddle registered in my consciousness, I stepped in it. My leg went sliding forward and I fell down on my backside in a very undignified fashion. After a moment of surprise, I gathered myself and stood up.

Just as I was continuing on my way, my eyes connected with those of a man sitting perhaps twenty feet away in one of the chairs at Starbucks. It was obvious that he had witnessed the fall.  It was unclear whether any of the dozens of other people in my vicinity had noticed my fall. All I know is that no one asked me if I was all right or attempted to help.

Reflecting back on this experience, it had a dreamlike quality, almost as if I was invisible to everyone around me.  Luckily, I wasn’t hurt at all and the whole experience had such a strange feel to it that my pride wasn’t even wounded. Mostly, I was left with a sense of curiosity: Was I truly invisible to the other people at the mall? If so, did that have to do with my age, my gender, the way I was dressed? Or were the other people around me so distracted by their own preoccupations that they didn’t even notice? Was there something about the setting that worked against someone coming to my assistance? For example, if I’d been in an airport, would someone have been more likely to help? (I’ve actually experienced numerous acts of civility in airports, so I have some data to support that hypothesis.) And what about the man who actually did witness my fall, what kept him from coming over to me?

What would you have done if you’d observed someone falling at the mall?

(What) does my experience have to teach? 

I recently read an intriguing article entitled, “Bombings, beheadings? Stats show a peaceful world.” The article cited numerous data demonstrating that the world is becoming a more peaceful place. Statistics show dramatic reductions in war deaths, family violence, racism, rape, murder and more.

Some examples:

• The number of people killed in battle has dropped by 1,000-fold over the centuries as civilizations evolved.
• The average annual battle death toll has dropped from nearly 10,000/conflict in the 1950s to less than 1,000 in the 21^st century. The number of deadliest wars—those killing at least 1,000 people/year­–has fallen by 78% since 1988.
• The rate of genocide deaths per world population was 1,400 times higher in 1942 than in 2008.
• Murder in European countries has steadily fallen from approximately 100/ 100,000 people in the 14^th and 15^th centuries to about 1/100,000.
• Since 1976, the U.S. rate of spousal murders has dropped appreciably.
• Rape in the US is down 80% since 1973.

These data are painstakingly compiled from peer-reviewed studies using examinations of graveyards, surveys and historical records.

In his recently published book, “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined,” Steven Pinker asserts that one of the main reasons why violence is declining is that we are becoming more intelligent and valuing human life more than we once did.  He elaborates more extensively on this thesis in his book. He states, “The decline of violence may be the most significant and least appreciated development in the history of our species.”

So…if this is true, why do we feel so unsafe so much of the time?

That’s the question that has my attention. Why are there gated communities, home security systems, extensive airport security measures, elaborate passwords for every website one subscribes to?  Why does every large office building have metal detectors and security guards in the lobby? Why do so many of us feel physiologically on high alert so much of the time?

Let’s start with this simple reinforcing loop:

What are some of the actions and results of the belief that “the world is a dangerous place”?

Then if we consider the belief that is proposed by these studies cited above, “the world is becoming a more peaceful place” what actions and...