I'll probably get a lot of shit for this, but I'm saying it anyway.

[Confounding]

It amazes me sometimes the way people prioritize and compartmentalize their universe. An entire nation is mourning the loss of 60 people they didn't know, but how many times over the years has 100 dead children in the Middle East been just another day at the office? I struggle to understand humans in moments like these.

 

[fncceo]

You can't mourn every human tragedy. You have to pick and choose the ones that affect you personally.

Remember that your despondency over global suffering does absolutely frak all to diminish that suffering.

 

[Vastator]

It amazes me sometimes the way people prioritize and compartmentalize their universe. An entire nation is mourning the loss of 60 people they didn't know, but how many times over the years has 100 dead children in the Middle East been just another day at the office? I struggle to understand humans in moments like these.

The middle easterners, aren't my people. Glad I could help. Any other questions?

 

[JoeB131]

It amazes me sometimes the way people prioritize and compartmentalize their universe. An entire nation is mourning the loss of 60 people they didn't know, but how many times over the years has 100 dead children in the Middle East been just another day at the office? I struggle to understand humans in moments like these.

I think it's a matter of empathy. we can identify with those folks in Las vegas. That could be us, going to a concert somewhere when a madman decides to open fire.

We can't imagine what it is like to live in a country in a constant state of warfare, even if it's a war we had a hand in starting.

Also doesn't help that most new organizations don't invest in foreign correspondents anymore because they don't sell boxes of corn flakes.

 

[Correll]

Agreed. The closer it is to you, the more you care. Completely natural.

 

[BlackSand]

It amazes me sometimes the way people prioritize and compartmentalize their universe. An entire nation is mourning the loss of 60 people they didn't know, but how many times over the years has 100 dead children in the Middle East been just another day at the office? I struggle to understand humans in moments like these.

Right or wrong, what you are describing is called 'distance of separation'.
The closer you are to an event, or even accessibility to an event ... The more it impacts your conscious processes.

In short ... The more likely you are to visit a place, or the more that place resembles the place where you are ... The more impact it has on your thoughts.

.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

The Middle East people have been in a near constant state of war for many generations. And there is nothing in sight that looks to change that. It is of their own doing.
This is an entirely different event. No one is at war. This is some lone nut that massacred people at a music concert.
Big difference.

 

[Confounding]

The middle easterners, aren't my people. Glad I could help. Any other questions?

Why is the blood of some innocent people more of a tragedy than the blood of other innocent people? Just because some of them were born closer to the place you were born? That seems incredibly shallow to me. They're all innocent people that had the gift of life violently torn away from them. I see them as equal.

 

[Vastator]

The middle easterners, aren't my people. Glad I could help. Any other questions?

Why is the blood of innocent some people more of a tragedy than the blood of others? Just because some of them were born closer to the place you were born? That seems incredibly shallow to me. They're all innocent people that had the gift of life violently torn away from them. I see them as equal.

Because I don't give a shit about them. Y The European descendants of this country are closer to me genetically than middle easterners. Therefore there is a closer familial bond with them. It's completely natural. Just like any parent worth his salt cares more about his own children, than someone else's...

 

[Mikeoxenormous]

It amazes me sometimes the way people prioritize and compartmentalize their universe. An entire nation is mourning the loss of 60 people they didn't know, but how many times over the years has 100 dead children in the Middle East been just another day at the office? I struggle to understand humans in moments like these.

I struggle to understand humans in moments like these.

I remember when 3000 US citizens, innocent men, women and children were killed, and those in the middle east cheered. I think that is one reason why people around the world morn their own, but don't have much feeling for others. When Japan was bombed and hundreds of thousands of people died, there wasn't much regret for that action, as Japan cheered when they attacked Pearl Harbor killing thousands some still teenage boys.

Muslims Celebrated The Sep 11 Attacks

The Muslim world celebrated the attacks.

I took a trip to Egypt a few years ago to do the usual tourist lap around the pyramids and up the Nile. Our guide was a Coptic Christian. During a quiet moment in Cairo, I asked him what the Egyptian reaction was to Sep 11. He said they celebrated. They marvelled at the cleverness of the attackers and considered it quite a victory

 

[fncceo]

For the record ... caring more doesn't make you a better person. It just makes you no fun at parties.

No one wants to be around the guy who dresses in black and moans ... 'Wither Zambia?'

 

[Confounding]

I think it's a matter of empathy. we can identify with those folks in Las vegas. That could be us, going to a concert somewhere when a madman decides to open fire.

So ultimately it boils down to being about you? "What if that was me?"

 

[fncceo]

So ultimately it boils down to being about you? "What if that was me?"

The essence of empathy.

 

[JoeB131]

I remember when 3000 US citizens, innocent men, women and children were killed, and those in the middle east cheered.

Really? Because what I remember is most of the Middle East didn't cheer, and that they were initially keen on helping us hunt down the people who did this...

Until your boy Bush forgot what we were doing over there and decided he was going to settle up with Saddam for making his Daddy look bad.

When Japan was bombed and hundreds of thousands of people died, there wasn't much regret for that action, as Japan cheered when they attacked Pearl Harbor killing thousands some still teenage boys.

I think that's a pretty simplistic view of Japanese history. But never mind.

 

[Confounding]

Because I don't give a shit about them.

Thanks for your honesty.

 

[Mikeoxenormous]

The middle easterners, aren't my people. Glad I could help. Any other questions?

Why is the blood of some innocent people more of a tragedy than the blood of other innocent people? Just because some of them were born closer to the place you were born? That seems incredibly shallow to me. They're all innocent people that had the gift of life violently torn away from them. I see them as equal.

Hard to see those in the middle east who strap bombs to their children and then blow their kids up along with innocent people, as being "innocent". I spent 5 1/2 years there and their thinking is totally about poverty and redemption through violence. I was 4 miles up the road when Khobar Towers were blown up and young men were killed while they slept. I don't feel much for those who wish harm upon US.

Khobar Towers bombing of 1996 | terrorist attack, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Khobar Towers bombing of 1996, terrorist attack on a U.S. Air Force housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on June 25, 1996. The bombers drove a tanker truck packed with 5,000 pounds (2,268 kg) of explosives near the complex and then jumped into waiting vehicles, escaping just before detonation. The explosion, which was so loud that it was heard some 20 miles (32 km) away, left a crater 85 feet (26 metres) wide and 35 feet (10.6 metres) deep. Nineteen U.S. service members were killed, and some 500 people were injured.

 

[Confounding]

The essence of empathy.

I'm good with cognitive empathy but I do not experience emotional empathy. Maybe that's why it's so bizarre to me.

 

[JoeB131]

Meanwhile, in the real world.

Reactions to the September 11 attacks - Wikipedia

Almost all Muslim political and religious leaders condemned the attacks. The leaders vehemently denouncing the attacks included the leaders of Egypt (Hosni Mubarak), the Palestinian Authority (Yasser Arafat), Libya (Muammar Gaddafi), Syria (Bashar al-Assad), Iran (Mohamed Khatami) and Pakistan (Pervez Musharraf).[4][33] The sole exception was Iraq, when the then-president Saddam Hussein, said of the attacks that "the American cowboys are reaping the fruit of their crimes against humanity".[34] Saddam would later offer sympathy to the Americans killed in the attacks.[35]

 

[JoeB131]

Hard to see those in the middle east who strap bombs to their children and then blow their kids up along with innocent people, as being "innocent". I spent 5 1/2 years there and their thinking is totally about poverty and redemption through violence. I was 4 miles up the road when Khobar Towers were blown up and young men were killed while they slept. I don't feel much for those who wish harm upon US.

And if a bunch of Arabs or space aliens occupied America and disrespected our laws and customs and traditions and treated us like second class citizens in our own country, how would you feel about that.

Before you answer, let me remind you that you freak the fuck out when Mexican immigrants have a few drinks on Cinco di Mayo.

Nobody likes foreigners occupying their country.

 

[Correll]

The middle easterners, aren't my people. Glad I could help. Any other questions?

Why is the blood of some innocent people more of a tragedy than the blood of other innocent people? Just because some of them were born closer to the place you were born? That seems incredibly shallow to me. They're all innocent people that had the gift of life violently torn away from them. I see them as equal.

Nope. Not shallow at all. Normal Healthy Human Behavior.