Summary of The Fear Factor

The Roadside Rescuer

In 1996, when Abigail Marsh was 19 years old, she swerved on a highway to avoid hitting a small dog. Her car spun into the fast lane facing oncoming traffic and slid to a stop. As cars narrowly swerved past her, she believed she was going to die. Suddenly, a man’s face appeared at the window.  He had parked his car and run across four lanes of highway traffic at night, a black man risking his life to save a white stranger.

He drove her car safely to the side of the freeway. After making sure Marsh was OK, he got back in his own car and drove off. Marsh was so dazed that she doesn’t remember now if she thanked the man, and she never learned his name. The rescue inspired her to research and try to understand the origins of altruism. In 1999, she began graduate work in social psychology at Harvard University.

“Moral Typecasting”

Moral typecasting is one reason people have difficulty understanding altruists. People are either “moral agents” or “moral patients.” Agents commit an act, either positive or negative...