Comments on: Numbed By Numbers

By: Compassion Fatigue :: WONDERLUST :: Bob Davidson

Compassion Fatigue :: WONDERLUST :: Bob Davidson — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:02:17 +0000

[...] use of numbers typically enhance our detachment from a particular situation or reality. Over 200,000 deaths in Darfur in the last 4 years. 300 anticipated homicides in Baltimore (every year). 101 U.S. [...]

By: Too Many To Care « The Situationist

Too Many To Care « The Situationist — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:41:08 +0000

[...] by Paul Slovic on April 11th, 2007 Last month, I provided an excerpt from the following op-ed I published in the March issue of of edition of Foreign Policy. The [...]

By: Doug S.

Doug S. — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:06:01 +0000

Another issue: the more numbers you tack on to a problem, the harder it may seem to deal with. “I could donate X dollars to save someone, but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to all those other people that my X dollars won’t save. This is too much for me to deal with.”

By: Michael Metzler

Michael Metzler — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:33:29 +0000

Interesting. I wonder if we fail to see the problem in terms of numbers because of the traditional perception of how it is rather distance that affects our moral behavior and empathy.