If everyone (or just most people) think like you, then seeing people suffer makes them suffer as well. And that makes their friends suffer, and so on. So, by transitivity, you should expect to suffer at least a little bit when people who you don’t know directly are suffering.
But I don’t think it is about the feeling. I also don’t really feel anything when I hear about some number of people dying in a far away place. Still, I believe that the world would be a better place if people were not dying there. If I am in a position to help people, I believe that in the long run the result is better if I just shut up and multiply and help many far away people, rather than caring mostly about a few friends and neighbors.
If we’d all just cooperate maybe this would be a better world. But we don’t and it is not.
I have yet to see a calculation that shows that my gift to some far away people instead of a fine dinner with my friends will give me a return on my money in the long run. Assume that all people do this to avoid freerider arguments.
If everyone (or just most people) think like you, then seeing people suffer makes them suffer as well. And that makes their friends suffer, and so on. So, by transitivity, you should expect to suffer at least a little bit when people who you don’t know directly are suffering.
But I don’t think it is about the feeling. I also don’t really feel anything when I hear about some number of people dying in a far away place. Still, I believe that the world would be a better place if people were not dying there. If I am in a position to help people, I believe that in the long run the result is better if I just shut up and multiply and help many far away people, rather than caring mostly about a few friends and neighbors.
If we’d all just cooperate maybe this would be a better world. But we don’t and it is not.
I have yet to see a calculation that shows that my gift to some far away people instead of a fine dinner with my friends will give me a return on my money in the long run. Assume that all people do this to avoid freerider arguments.