We rely on the kindness of strangers WAY more than we realize.
We assume everybody will look out for each other, at least to an extent.
Allow me to explain— very rarely do you suspect somebody will blatantly try to assassinate you.
Today, I was on the subway platform waiting for the 5 train. I was standing about 3 feet from the ledge when I had a realization.
If I were to faint, right now, there a 50/50 chance I’d fall off the platform. If I fall backward, I’m ok. If I fall forward, I’m on the tracks, where I’ll probably have a concussion and go unconscious, and then GOOD LUCK to the poor bastard that tries to lift me back onto the platform (I’m a legal giant in, like, 4 countries).
Then, I took it a step further.
If somebody wanted to assassinate me, they could definitely sneak up behind me and kick me right onto the tracks.
That’s the thing—at any given time, any of these millions of strangers could straight up kill me, yet I continue to put my trust in these randos.
Why?
I’m basically putting my life in the hands of all these people I’ve never met. Why do I feel comfortable trusting these random people to not murder me?
Normally, this is where I’d have an answer for you, or at the very least a well-formulated hypothesis, but I truly don’t know the answer to this one.
Think about it! What if a billionaire paid everybody in the subway $1 million to kill me? You don’t think one of them would take that deal? Of course, at LEAST one of them would take that deal, but probably most of them would take that deal, and then they’d gang up on me until my heart stops.
Never trust anyone, unless you want them to assassinate you on the subway platform when you’re playing Tetris and listening to a Joe Rogan podcast, which you regularly listen to but always deny if anybody asks you “Hey, do you ever listen to Joe Rogan?”
Until next time,
Michael J. Erickson, CEO & Co-Founder
