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I have been noticing my developing numbness to covid. People say “don’t get numb to this” so I respond by reading sad news articles to pull at my heart strings. But that just makes me feel bad and I don’t think it helps. Which has me thinking about the limits of empathy 1/
Paul Bloom published “The Case Against Empathy” in 2013. As a new med student, empathy seemed inherently good to me. Which is why this article caught my attention. (Sidebar: my husband and I discussed this article on our first date bc were that cool) 2/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/05/20/the-baby-in-the-well/amp
Bloom isn’t opposed to feeling someone else’s pain and being moved to act, but he recognizes the limits. Stories don’t pull at our heart strings the same. A story of 1 sick child may emotionally tug at us more than a report of 200,000 children threatened by climate change 3/
And, the kinds of stories that garner attention are often those of the most “sympathetic” victims... which in our racist, homophobic, ableist, ageist society is probably cute little white girls or cis-het dads who coach little league. 4/
“Our best hope for the future is not to get people to think of all humanity as family—that’s impossible. It lies, instead, in an appreciation of the fact that, even if we don’t empathize with distant strangers, their lives have the same value as the lives of those we love.” 5/
Bloom argues for a rational approach to distribution of resources and policy-level attention. What that means for me and my growing numbness to covid... 6/
I don’t think it’s morally better (or worse) to be continually distraught over covid. If you don’t care at all, that’s a problem. But it’s simply not humanly possible to feel the weight of 400,000 deaths. At a certain point, the suffering feels like infinity. 7/
I do think we have a more responsibility to stay informed, reduce harm to others (with distancing, mask wearing etc), and to advocate and vote for policy changes that will prevent further suffering and death. But those responses are based in reason and action, not emotion. 8/
I’m not criticizing anyone’s emotional response to the pandemic. I’m just responding to the guilt I have felt from growing numb to the ongoing horrors. I’m realizing that my numbness may actually be protective, and it isn’t stopping me from doing my part to end the pandemic. 9/9
