The stranger vs neighbour paradox

Often, it will be mere strangers who will feel your pain when those around you will flee. It is the paradox of the stranger versus the neighbour.

A much clearer example would be to point at how much likely it is for someone to help another they don’t know, rather than someone who lives next door to them. One element that comes into play in the natural urge for competition most of us possess, deeply etched in the mind. That competitive spirit means that jealousy and envy become a core factor in behaviour or choices we end up making.

That’s why it will always feel easier to send money to some far away country to help cute little kids we don’t know, than crouching beside the beggar in our street to simply talk to him. Something prevents us from truly helping those around us to an extend because the roots of envy and jealousy create a vague fear that our neighbour in need might well end up better off than us at some point.

Since we are naturally inclined to show that we are better than those who surround us, it actually makes sense that we should often fail those closest to us, but not the mere stranger who won’t trigger the competitive instinct so much, if at all.