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I have been on the other end of this somewhat often, as one does when they take the subway to/from work every day. Some of this is very self-serving for the me

I have been on the other end of this somewhat often, as one does when they take the subway to/from work every day. Some of this is very self-serving for the median commuter as well. Someone struggling with a stroller or luggage is likely blocking some portion of the way for people getting in and out of the Subway, and the easiest way to fix that is just to help the person. I've carried a number of strollers, suitcases and whatnot for people without barely a word. The same is true for helping people get their cars out of the snow, giving directions or anything else.

steveBK123 5y ago
Yes this is part of it for sure - help me help you, we're all trying to just go about our day here.. let me lend a hand. Plus you've probably got your headphones on and are running late to your morning meeting or meeting up with your spouse.. and the extra minute of putting down the stroller, freeing your hand to remove your headphones and adding some superfluous verbal interaction just feels... superfluous.
IIAOPSW 5y ago
>Some of this is very self-serving for the median commuter as well. Someone struggling with a stroller or luggage is likely blocking some portion of the way for people getting in and out of the Subway, From an evolutionary game theory perspective, all seemingly selfless coordination acts are really self interest with extra steps. Prairie dogs have a vocabulary of about 10 words for the approximately 10 types of predators they might want to warn each other about. Why would a male prairie dog participate in a system which perpetuates the life of competing males? Because all participant prairie dogs benefit from not getting eaten, and the marginal benefit to the individual is higher than the marginal cost. Of course, prairie dogs don't sit around working out payoff matrices and finding the Nash Equilibrium. The behaviour is hard coded without an understanding of why. Warning their fellow dogs just "feels like the right thing to do". so they do it.

steveBK123 5y ago

Yes this is part of it for sure - help me help you, we're all trying to just go about our day here.. let me lend a hand. Plus you've probably got your headphones on and are running late to your morning meeting or meeting up with your spouse.. and the extra minute of putting down the stroller, freeing your hand to remove your headphones and adding some superfluous verbal interaction just feels... superfluous.

IIAOPSW 5y ago

>Some of this is very self-serving for the median commuter as well. Someone struggling with a stroller or luggage is likely blocking some portion of the way for people getting in and out of the Subway, From an evolutionary game theory perspective, all seemingly selfless coordination acts are really self interest with extra steps. Prairie dogs have a vocabulary of about 10 words for the approximately 10 types of predators they might want to warn each other about. Why would a male prairie dog participate in a system which perpetuates the life of competing males? Because all participant prairie dogs benefit from not getting eaten, and the marginal benefit to the individual is higher than the marginal cost. Of course, prairie dogs don't sit around working out payoff matrices and finding the Nash Equilibrium. The behaviour is hard coded without an understanding of why. Warning their fellow dogs just "feels like the right thing to do". so they do it.