Question: Does crisis bring out the best in man?

I agree to a certain extent that crisis brings out the best in man.

Firstly, what exactly is the "best in man"? I strongly feel that altruism, the act of of selflessly devoting oneself to the welfare of others is considered the best in man. Altruism is something that is rarely seen in everyday life, if seen at all. This is as in everyday life, everyone has their own things to do and are too busy to be bothered by other less important things. For example,in the workplace everyone is extremely rushed to complete their assigned tasks within a fixed time, thus they could not be bothered with other people, and they would view others as obstacles, distractions etc.(Basically people will not be concerned with one another in this situation- no empathy, sympathy will be shown usually) However, everything changes in a crisis. The mindsets and thoughts of people will immediately change to suit the gravity of the situation, and only then would the best in man usually suffice. People would feel the obligation to protect and help one another, even if it involves the ultimate sacrifice- death. Thus, many people will become altruistic and the best in man will be shown.

However, the worst in man can also be brought out during a crisis. During a crisis, many things will inadvertently change. There will be complete chaos, laws would be completely absent and society would start to crumble. In a place without laws, man will start to give way to its basic instincts, things such as greed will invade the minds of everyone. Widespread looting will become commonplace as there is nothing stopping people from doing so, and other crimes such as robbery, theft, rape that will be committed around the same reasons as well. Thus, the worst in man would also appear during a crisis.

Thus, i feel that a crisis brings out both the best and worst in man, and therefore i can only agree to a certain extent with the statement:" Does crisis bring out the best in man?".