ABC 20/20, the past two weeks, has aired a “20 Questions You Never Thought to Ask” segment.
One of the stories concerned whether we are all inherently selfish (“Do Humans Care Only About Themselves?”. David Muir starts reporting on the Kitty Genovese stabbing in Queens, New York in 1964 when over thirty people witnessed it from apartment buildings above and no one called police. The report went on to note that wealthy people who have more than one child (competing for bequest) are more likely to receive visits from adult children in nursing homes and assisted living centers than are poor people. Likewise, people donate to charity by going to lavish fundraisers where they can be seen. Our selfishness and our social compassion are both essential to our survival as a species, according to the report .
Some of the segments are based on the book “Super Freakanomics” by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, excerpt)
and covers how innovation (from the polio vaccine to the replacement of whale oil with fossil fuels) solves sustainability problems. The authors discuss Bill Gates’s plan to cool oceans during hurricane seasons with special pumps, and says that “a garden hose can counteract global warming.”
Another segment concerns hospital sanitation and handwashing by staff. In some UK hospitals, doctors are forbidden to wear ties, as cravats spread germs. One previously healthy woman got a flesh-eating super bug in a hospital, and all hospitals now have MRSA precautions. Will male surgeons or nurses someday face epilation to prevent the spread of more germs? I suggest that idea in my novel draft.
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