Is there less empathy in the world?

Question

Have we become numb to the plights of others because of the media? Are humans (in general) less sympathetic to other humans? What about comparing developing nations to developed nations? Are 'western' citizens more cynical and pessimistic?

Personally, I've lived in small towns where neighbors are close and willing to help out each other. I've lived in cities like like S.F. and N.Y. where well dressed people step over the homeless like they're garbage..It seems to me that everything is a little more cut throat in larger cities, why is that?

Answer 1

self preservation, fear, shamelessness, selfishness, etc.......... we can make up excuses and try to come up with explanations, but the truth is..............well there is none. the bottom line is that some people are just evil, some are good. like the old saying birds of a feather flock together. well, that might explain your philosophy and your experience in small towns verses big city's. (now the frightening thing is there are more people in big city's, does that mean the evil out number the good??? another scary thought to ponder.

Answer 2

I'm not really sure how much effect the city size has on it. I've lived in the same town all my life and it hasn't grown much, but when I was a kid we knew all our neighbors and now we don't have a clue heh.

I think a lot of it has to do with being more materialistic and generally greedy than we used to be. People used to be happy if they survived...now we mostly have everything we need, so we go around looking for what we don't have, and not being happy with what we've got. And a lot of those who sit around thinking up new ways to get rich don't really care who they hurt in their pursuit of money.

A related issue is that the speed of life has increased a LOT, and if you're busy busy busy all day long you don't really have time to give a hoot about some random guy.

Sometimes this whole thing gets me to the verge of being disgusted by the whole human race, until I remember that if I'm not that way, there's gotta be others who aren't that way too. I just wish there were more of us.

Answer 3

I don't know. It seems as time goes on man becomes more sophisticated at taking care of the needs of his fellow man, the science gets better but how much do we care? As space gets limited on the earth there will be more empathy. Or as a race we'll die. Or at least I hope there will be more empathy.

My personal dumb theory is that Westerners are a much newer culture and will learn hard lessons along the way. We're economically and defensively the most powerful so unfortunately we seem to care less. We're always protecting our booty. It's sad we could be so insensitive. It's human nature to protect our wealth but we win some awards for insensitivity.

Do what you can to enrich yourself but always try to educate people on what you think is right and if you believe you can help others do it. Good luck.

Answer 4

I think people in general are as empathic as before, if not more so. We tend to see the past (especially the past we haven't known ourselves) in a rosy light...everything was more harmonious and people were kinder etc. But a lot of things have changed for the better, in most parts of the world people have more rights, are treated more equally than in earlier times, and this could be seen as a kind of collective empathy towards one another. The reason that people in small towns are friendlier is because the closer you know someone, the easier it is to understand them and help them. In the cities everyone are much more anonymous.

Answer 5

I generally agree with your experiences about small town and large cities.

I am not sure that it is the fault of the media.

If i had to pick a root cause, i would think it had to do with group dynamics ( in small towns) and mob behavior ( in large cities). In a smaller town, you know everybody and they know you, or your mother knows them, etc. Everybody is a neighbor - very few people are strangers. You can be more trusting, which means you can be more generous in caring for others. Maybe.

It would be considered cruel to step over a homeless person in a small town.

Answer 6

It seems that in smaller populations people cannot run away from social problems so they take care of it. So in small towns or classrooms you will find people are more willing to help each other out. In larger populated areas, it is easier to hide and let the 'other guy' handle 'problems'. This is sad and unfortunate, but there are those that move from small towns to the larger ones and carry with them their upbringing that perhaps things will change sooner than later. One can hope.

Answer 7

I think that shortly after 9/11 the country got more empathic. But over the years I feel that people are getting less and less empathic each day and that makes me sad. It makes me sad that it took a tragedy to change the lives and feeling of Americans. Also, I wish that we do not have to have another traegdy to see more empathy.

Answer 8

Yes..the futher you get from the populated areas the more down to Earth people are..It has to getting back to the basics and life..We are here to learn, laugh, love, and grow. If you look at society..we are living are lives based on greed..one of the most primitive and destructive traits as Human beings..The ugliness of Human ignorance is daily and certainly not limited to big cities..its just more obvious...its about time we woke up to why we are here.. if we are ever to evolve to true intelligence...the time runs short.

Answer 9

A large city has a large population, which allows people to become isolated from one another, which breeds apathy.

A bigger population also means there are more people in need, and if constantly being exposed to people’s plights doesn’t desensitize someone at least a little, it will break them.

Answer 10

no empathy prevails...its just that we empathize w.r.t. our own perception! billions and billions and billions of people and same no. of perceptions..........basic human nature is same expression can be different......there may be a small heartless fraction but they still ve emotions sympathy for some 1 may be a child a parent its our perception and intellectual horizons. ve a nice day