about everything? I think that a major problem that isn't being addressed is the fact that people have this attitude where "if it's not happening to me, then I don't have to care." and personally, I find that disgusting. So, what would happen if everyone lost some of their apathy and gained some sympathy? Is this even possible and or plausible? thoughts?
Yeah there's this psychological phenomenon called bystander activity which means that people by instinct don't lend a hand to those in need. We feel so insecure about our own emergencies that when someone really needs some help the majority of people just ignore them or watch. Here are a couple of real life examples of this taking place: warning: these send shivers down your spine because of the lack of sympathy withion the examples. Spoiler In March, 1964 - A young woman (Kitty Genovese) was attacked and killed in Kew Gardens (a respectable neighbourhood) in the Queens area. The attack took approximately half an hour. Kitty Genovese struggled and escaped several times, but her attacker persisted when no-one came to her aid When police interviewed tenants the next day 38 people (allegedly) admitted that they heard the struggle but did not help (did not even call police). This is it at it's worst imo... The internet doesn't help either, a guy at the age of 19 (Abraham Briggs) commited suicide. Some trolls egged him on. And he died because nobody acted untill it was far too late... You are right it is disgusting. Psychologists doing experments where they have sounds of someone in stress playing outside the room subjects are in and see how many people do get up an help... The results showed that if the Subject was left alone less than 70% helped. The same as if they were with a friend... Less than 40% helped when there were two subjects in the same room. And when it was just the subject and a person who was in on what was happening and ignored it completely less than 7% helped. When people are in a less familiar situation there response rate is a lot slower... In situations where somebody looks like they might need help people feel like going through a process where they have to attend to what's happening, define if the event is an emergency, assume responsibility and decide what can be done before they give help. Well when the great depression hit are forefathers they entered an era where a lot of emphasis was placed on being a good person, and making an effort to hold onto the virtues that were considered important back then. It's because as they lost material goods they didn't have anything left. Because the current economic climate is caused by greed some people are making an effort to be more compassionate, it's like a mirror of the people of the great depression although the situation is not as heavy as a depression... So the silver lining of a recession is that people take a step back and re-evaluate their lives. Everything goes in a cycle and if things seem bad now then they will revert sometime to a better climate... Hopefully
It's more about prioritizing what you care about. Plenty of people care about the Israelis enough to lob bombs into their tiny spit of land whenever possible at their expense in money and people. On a smaller scale people care enough about their neighbors to kill them and take everything they have at the slightest provocation because of some perceived sleight or insult. People need to stop caring about a lot more things than they need to start caring about. It's because they prioritize cheap pride and imaginary divisions and ancient cultural memories that we have most of our problems to start with. So it'd be great if people were more considerate and tried their hands and being kind, but it's better to just not have people attacking others and causing more trouble than they need to. I guess I'm favoring prevention over repair in this case.
i personally think the world WOULD be a better place if people cared more. however, i don't think it's actually plausible for that to happen, even though i wish it were. i'm guilty of not caring what doesn't affect me as well. for example: the wars in Afganistan and Iraq, and that Oil Spill. i think those are all horrible events, but to be honest, i don't care that much and really don't have much emotional investment in those things. and i probably wouldn't start caring unless bombs were going off in the US (but still probably wouldn't care unless it happened close to where i live). but i still think that the world as it is now can be fixed if the people who ARE affected by whatever event could step up and take action. i do think that some of the problems that people have are there because they don't take enough action. of course i'm sure there are a lot of examples where that isn't true. while i think that the world would be better if we cared about things that didn't affect us, i really don't think we are obliged to care. because everyone has their own problems and if people took more action in resolving their own problems, i don't think outside interference from others would be necessary and again, i'm sure there are cases where this isn't true and outside interference IS needed (like the tsunami in Asia and the earthquake in Haiti), but i think what i said applies to most regular people. hope that makes sense.
Your question can go in several directions at once but I'll pick a major one to discuss. See this thread for any points I may have missed. Alright, here's what will happen. If anyone cared a little bit more about planet Earth's sorry state then we'd stretch humanity's life span for a while longer before falling into the inevitable decay anyway. The idea of "caring more" sounds very pink and fluffy but the gist is that it accomplishes little to nothing. Doesn't sound like what you want to hear? Too bad. It gets several times worse. Sooner or later, humanity's stay on this earth will come to an end. We have little choice about how it will happen. Even if we try to weigh down less on the planet things have come too far for us not to deteriorate due to shortages of this and that in the end. In other words, we won't be at the peak of our welfare when doomsday approaches. We'll be long past it, and due to our slow awareness, we'll have been grinding through several generations of deterioration before the curtain falls. We can somewhat choose how soon this will take place, to a certain extent. And here's the catch: it doesn't matter. We're all trying our very best to decrease our ecological footprint at the cost of our own pleasure and satisfaction in order to give more people the chance to live lives not worth mentioning. But whether there will be 500 or 5000 generations after ours won't affect the outcome in any way. The unborn can't blame us if we stop living with the brakes on. Therefore, your sympathy doesn't hold a candle to good old apathy. Not in this case. You may find it disgusting. I find it better than wasting time.
If everyone did care a little bit more little by little the world would be a little brighter,a little happier, and easier to live in. Unfortunately, Your talking about everyone, everyone has their way of showing they care, kindness comes in all shapes and sizes, some peoples kindness is big others may have very small boxes of kindness, and everyone has selfishness but also does sins. Peoples sins come through experience or how they were raised. So really it's just the way they are but also if they choose to help and to care. It's a choice you can make. You can be anyone you want. No one can make you kinder unless you choose to be.
it is sickening, the way people just don't care about people. If everyone cared, then it would be a much better world, as for if it is possible. Yes, anything is possible. But I do not belive that this is probable, it is an animal instinct to protect yourself, and it is hard to overcome animal instincts.
If everyone cared more then the world would be a much better place to live but sadly it is not. While i remain to be lazy i always try to care about others and will go beyond the norms to help a person who is genuine with me but the one fatal flaw in this is that it is only i, who cares this much and in the end this is not enough. People would be better off to care more about others but instinct dictates that a man cares not. This instinct has even leaked here in these passed years. Caring is considered weakness and hence people refuse to care for fear of getting hurt.
No. If you care you will not survive in this world. If you care you won't move on. Nothing else would change just make time pass by slower. Unless you mean world peace. If that's what you mean then I don't imagine that. So I wouldn't know. As for people just being more sympathetic I find that sad. People will hold back more and just put things off. It's not so much: If it's not happening to me, I don't care. It's more of, I cared and you just took advantage of that. Your life and your world is your problem now. If I care about you, you're going to end up using me. If I care then I'm not focusing on myself. Unfortunately, the people that did care became bitter and uncaring for reasons. People are bitter because they learned that's how you move through life with less stress and survive better. I only found pain, grief, and misery in showing sympathy. If you feel bad because of how someone's feeling you really do feel bad and then so does the next person and the next person ect. It's a never-ending circle. If someone is sad and someone feels bad and the next person doesn't then it's done for. It doesn't continue. It probably sounds confusing but I don't see the need for sympathy. Happiness only brings sadness. If someone is happy someone is going to be sad. You can't take care of everyone's needs. No need to. It is their problem and their life in reality.
I'd say that everyone is like that or has been like that so they can get out of sticky situations, and someone else has to clean up the mess
This must be the most idiotic thing I've read all month. Many wars in this world have been started with the benefit of the nation or even the world in mind. The war on terrorism is a striking example of this. Its ultimate goal is to vanquish acts of terrorism and the people who commit them where they appear, but how is this any less a war? Dito for murder. Not everyone kills for selfish reasons. Some murderers are deluded into thinking they're helping humanity by picking off a black sheep. Heck, they might not always be deluded. Who's to say? And hunger? Hunger is largely dependent on natural resources. "Caring" isn't enough to solve the hunger problem. People need the will and the means to tackle such an issue.
