Empathy Epidemic
Discomfort aversion - because facing this people, dealing with people, adds back friction into the equation. Friction we’ve become accustomed to solving away
Yes, you could argue that many Trump fanatics lack basic human empathy (or at least, are ambivalent to the suffering of others). But let’s be honest — the rest of us have been struggling with empathy for some time now.
America is undergoing a full-on mental health crisis, and a lot of people are turning to AI therapists. It’s now common to criticize AI therapists—shouldn’t we be helping people see actual humans , people argue? Well, yes. But the thing is: healthcare is pretty broken, and access to care is gated.
25 Predictions for 2025 (Part II)
Outsourcing empathy?
It’s like a competition who is suffering more - you can’t be sad because I’m sad about this, and it’s worse. It’s the suffering olympics
Hybristophilia: Study links TikTok to women’s sexual attraction to criminals (PsyPost)
A new study links TikTok engagement with hybristophilia (sexual attraction to criminals) among young women. Researchers found that actively liking or watching videos romanticizing offenders correlated with higher attraction levels, influenced by traits like... See more
A new study links TikTok engagement with hybristophilia (sexual attraction to criminals) among young women. Researchers found that actively liking or watching videos romanticizing offenders correlated with higher attraction levels, influenced by traits like... See more
Silence, Brand! 10.27.25
There’s clearly something in the air because The Atlantic just published Derek Thompson’s cover story on “the anti-social century,” which explores why Americans are spending more time than ever alone. And last week The Guardian published a piece about the rise in flakiness, with one person interviewed saying, “I have adjusted my mindset so I almost... See more
It’s me. I’m the person you’re canceling on
But the secondary problem is American individualism, which compels bourgeois Americans to focus what small amount of energy we have either on optimizing ourselves (exercise, skin care, “self-care”) or on our very close familial circle (that amorphous, ever-expanding activity known as “parenting” that includes everything from making Spirit Week... See more
The Loneliest Decades of Our Lives
How emotionally healthy are we, as a people, when, in moments of profound and painful tragedy, we feel compelled to insert our political opinions or policy positions? Can we not, just for a moment, feel for the victims?
Empathy is cultivated through interactions with people we don’t know well, those glimpses into other interior worlds. We have, over the past two decades—slowly and then quickly—“optimized” other people out of our lives. One app at a time, we’ve greatly reduced our need to casually engage with anyone we don’t know—or even to meaningfully engage with those we do.