
How Bad Are Things - ikeboy
http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/12/24/how-bad-are-things/
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vannevar
Based on the author's figures and assuming complete independence of the
conditions listed, only about 30% of the population would be untouched by any
of them. At the other end of the spectrum, assuming complete dependence
between the probabilities, the overall probability would be no higher than the
highest among them, or 20%---meaning that 80% would be unafflicted. Assuming
the truth lies somewhere between these two assumptions and splitting the
difference, we'd get 55% unafflicted, which doesn't seem all that surprising.
After all, no matter how strong our 'misery filter' may be, virtually all of
us know someone who is clinically depressed, or an alcoholic, or who has
dementia. We all know people who were sexually assaulted, although we may not
know it. We know people in wheelchairs, and/or on disability. And these people
are represented in our lives in numbers not far off from the proportion given
as the rate in the general population.

It's a good reminder of the struggles that many face, often hidden from our
daily view even if we are generally aware of them. But as a revelation of the
power of our social filter, it seems exaggerated.

------
pool
Skimming the comments on that post, a lot of the people there seemed rather
like dicks when talking about other people's unhappiness. I have to wonder how
unhappy they themselves are, to what degree they recognize it, what brought
them to that state...

