Somebody else’s problem
Published:
Somebody else’s problem (also known as someone else’s problem or SEP) is a psychological effect where people choose to dissociate themselves from an issue that may be in critical need of recognition. Such issues may be of large concern to the population as a whole but can easily be a choice of ignorance by an individual. Somebody Else’s Problem has been used to capture public attention on matters that may have been overlooked and has less commonly been used to identify concerns that an individual suffering symptoms of depression should ignore. This condition has also been employed as trivial shorthand to describe factors that are “out of scope” in the current context.
Author Douglas Adams’ comedic description of the condition, which he ascribes to a physical “SEP field,” has helped make it a generally recognized phenomenon. It is described through The Somebody Else’s Problem field, or SEP field, which is a device from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy that cloaks someone or something by making everyone view whoever or whatever is cloaked as somebody else’s problem.
See also
Material
- https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/691174-the-somebody-else-s-problem-field-is-much-simpler-and-more