

The Death of Hundreds Is Just a Statistic–But It Doesn’t Have to Be - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/blog/the-death-of-hundreds-is-just-a-statisticbut-it-doesnt-have-to-be

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pixl97
It's a function of Dunbar's Number

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number)

Or, more sarcastically put, the Monkeysphere.

[http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-
monkeysphere.html](http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-
monkeysphere.html)

Hundreds of deaths _is_ just a statistic because the vast majority of people
only have close connections to a few people. We may have a strong emotional
response if a child, a parent or a lover dies. We will have a response if
friends and not as close family dies. But that response gets weaker in general
as the the victims personal life is farther away and the less we relate with
them.

Trying to associate a logical response to become more emotional to an
emotional event doesn't seem like the right answer either. I mean, why not
skip the emotional response altogether and go full Vulcan?

Instead of focusing on deaths, the better outcome to prevent events like this,
or to get a deeper response from more people when a tragedy occurs focus on
creating more relationships with the living. Instead of being isolated
hamlets, cities, or countries reach out to the world and give humanity a
reason to care when you die.

