A boy decided to test strangers’ honesty with a simple but risky experiment. He left his laptop unattended in a crowded foodcourt in China, visible to everyone and with no protection. He set up a timer and walked away, convinced someone would take it in a matter of seconds.
It wasn’t just random prejudice. He had done the same test in other countries with almost immediate results. In Paris, his electronics disappeared in 8 seconds. In India it took 12 and in New York just 25. Everything seemed to indicate that this time the results would be the same.
China, however, would be different. Minutes passed… and no one touched the computer. Ten minutes, fifteen… the laptop remained in its place. The boy watched from a distance. He couldn’t believe no one was approaching.
When the timer reached 30 minutes, the boy rushed back, convinced he’d find his laptop gone, just as it had happened in other cities. But as he approached, he stopped dead in his tracks: the laptop was still there, untouched, just as he had left it. No one had touched it. The scene was so unexpected that he stood there in silence for a moment. In half an hour, his experiment broke all expectations and left a clear impression: even in an open space and with no one watching, people’s honesty can overcome all obstacles.
You can watch the experiment here: