“In a classic experiment from the 1970s, seminary students were instructed to go to a specific location. On the way there, they walked past a slouched-over man who was groaning audibly. Although all the students passed the man, they were each given a varying sense of urgency by the researchers before heading to their destination. Among those in no hurry, 63 percent stopped to help the man in need. As the level of haste increased, helpfulness dropped precipitously—of those in the greatest rush, only 10 percent stopped.

There was nothing inherently different about the students who stopped and those who didn’t, but the context—the students’ level of urgency, in this case—was enough to restrain benevolence.”