If you despair for humanity, this study might give back some hope… Researchers have found that, across cultures, humans are generally helpful and cooperative when asked to perform small tasks. We ask for assistance on average every 2 minutes and 17 seconds, and the people we ask are 7 times more likely to help us than not. The study focussed on micro-requests like passing the salt or getting a glass of water and found remarkable consistency across language groups – they studied people in England, Ecuador, Ghana, Poland, Italy, Australia, and Russia. Un’acqua, per favore?