The art of social science

Two people staged a murder inside a New York elevator this week, then filmed people’s reactions.

Not unexpectedly, some people intervened. Some people didn’t even bother to put the couch down they were moving.

In the category of we-shouldn’t-have-been-surprised-but-we-were: the guy who took a picture with his cellphone.

But intervening in a crime is more than just considering personal safety. It also involves figuring out for certain who the bad guy is.

It’s interesting social science, especially if one ignores that the video was created to promote Dead Man Down, a movie which opens next week.