A page from The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why by Amanda Ripley
I guess it’s not exactly surprising, but it seems to explain a lot of things I’m witnessing in my later adulthood. I’ve always felt deeply impressed by selfless heroes, but I never really pondered the profile of heroism.
But… I’m confused. Didn’t Musk call empathy a weakness? Surely someone so tolerant, inclusive, and humble couldn’t be wrong.
People like musk are afraid of heroes
Fucking hell. I can’t escape being reminded of this shitstain everywhere, even if I filter political posts.
Cover your eyes, plug your ears, and ignore the cries of those suffering around you.
Choosing to filter out political content from your social media feed isn’t necessarily about denial or apathy. For many people, it’s a conscious decision to preserve their mental clarity and avoid being constantly pulled into emotionally charged, tribal, or manipulative discourse. Being well-informed doesn’t require immersing yourself in an endless stream of outrage, nor does stepping back from that mean you’re turning a blind eye to anything.
There’s a difference between ignoring reality and choosing how and when to engage with it. Most of what passes for political content online isn’t a sober presentation of facts or ideas - it’s performance, manufactured outrage, and algorithm-driven noise. If someone wants to stay sane and focus on things they can actually influence in their immediate life, I don’t see that as sticking their head in the sand. I see it as setting healhy boundaries in an environment that’s often designed to provoke rather than inform.
People aren’t morally obligated to be constantly exposed to negativity just to prove they care. In fact, thoughtful action tends to come from those who can step back from the noise and think clearly, not from those who are perpetually consumed by it.
As opposed to passing drivel on the web even where it’s completely unrelated, because that solves all problems.
Love your username btw 😄
It was just a typo. 😁
Yeah I wish we could filter comments as well.
programming.dev##article.comment-node:has(div.comment-content:has(p:has-text(/Musk/i)))Put that into your adblocker custom filters (assuming you’re using a browser)
Yeah, I heard ignoring the shit world around you is a really good way to effect change
It’s about as effective as talking about it on social media all day, every day. The people making real change are out in the real world doing concrete things - not just posting about it online. Shaming people for not wanting to be miserable 24/7 because of the constant firehose of bad news isn’t just unproductive - it’s counterproductive.
I tried to effect change for 8 years. I gave up when Americans decided that they wanted the shit world. My mental health can’t handle it, I literally am losing years of my life with every moment I spend reading about how the people in this country are hell bent on turning it into the worst possible existence.
We were in this position before, a period of even greater division, even to the point of violence.
Our mistake was not teaching the fascist confederates the price of evil.
Paul Bloom has written an entire book arguing Against Empathy
I’m not sure I entirely agree with his thesis but it’s not a completely outrageous idea. I often wish I could tone down my level of empathy as well.
I got caught up on the term ‘empathy for self.’ I haven’t read the book, but I visited the link and couldn’t get past what I felt was a tragically flawed oxymoron. But maybe that’s a flaw with the Wikipedia article and not the source material, so I’ll endeavor to seek out the book at some point to learn more.
Empathy being a sign of privilege isn’t the truth I needed to read today :/
When you are fighting to survive, it’s only normal to have less bandwidth to care for others.
That’s the irony of it. I’m by no means a scholar of Thich Nhat Hanh, but I remember reading an account from his early life as a Vietnamese monk during the conflict with imperial France in which he had basically nothing and was himself barely surviving, but still found a way to feel peace and express compassion for a young French soldier suffering from malaria who desperately raided the monastery at gunpoint.
The opposite I feel, we are stronger as a group and my instinct when shit hits the fan is to make sure everyone involved is ok and ready to face the challenge together
There’s some truth here, like poorly-treated children probably have difficulty with empathy, except I’ve known a few people that had very hard childhoods and are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met, as if they developed past those issues to understand how important empathy is.
I also come from a large family, and while my siblings and my cousins had very similar upbringings, the variability in things like empathy and justice is extensive even among siblings (notably including twins).
To me it seems like there’s a strong element of innate character trait with this stuff, as we’ve watched kids grow up and seen their character at 2 years old remain consistent into adulthood. If this stuff were driven mostly by environment, then at least most kids would be similar… And we’ve found they aren’t, it’s all over the map, unpredictable by the environment.
Not to say environment doesn’t/can’t influence, it certainly can, but I don’t believe it’s usually the primary driver, just in cases where the environment is notably negative
Some people when faced with struggle become cold and bitter: “If I got through it without help, so can they.”
Some people do the opposite : “That was a hell I suffered through that I don’t want anyone else to have to experience”
And I have spent my entire life trying to figure out the difference between those two kinds of people and wondering which type I truly am.
highlighting images of text (about empathy), breaking accessibility
❌ (ironic) cringe
quoting text for accessibility, searchability, generally superior functionality
✔️ based
