In 1864 two ships, the Invercauld and the Grafton, were wrecked on the opposite sides of Auckland Island, which lies almost 300 miles (480km) south of New Zealand. Survivors from both crews were on the island at the same time, but were unaware of each other’s presence. Over the year after their stranding, the 19 survivors of the Invercauld splintered into groups, often left the weakest to die and even resorted to cannibalism. Only three crew members long enough to be rescued. In contrast, all five survivors of the Grafton eventually made it off the island. Shipwrecks, writes Mr Christakis, are good natural experiments in society-building: “survivor camps”, he says, “provide fascinating data...about how and why social order might vary, and about what arrangements are the most conducive to peace and survival.”
The kindness of strangers, The Economist May 4th 2019 人類の倫理観と社会性の起源(書評)
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