Empathy is a concept that grade schoolers have had drilled into their heads since day one. So why is it that those who are deemed more emotionally mature than a grade schooler struggle so much with the concept?
It’s simple for children to understand. They grow up surrounded by stories of heroes and villains, and the comparison between good and evil is snuck into pretty much any media they consume.
It’s so easy for them to know that they want to be the hero and be the good one. Why wouldn’t they? Being good and kind to others makes people feel good; it makes us feel good.
Yet, when I walk around campus or check customers out at my summer job, I’m met with a harsh reality that people can be mean.
I’m not just talking about a “Karen” at a grocery store situation; it’s worse than that. I’ve watched my peers put down one another, and I’ve even seen professors bully their own coworkers and students.
When I see these things, I tend to get frustrated. I’m not sure I will ever understand why someone would feel the need to be cruel to others. I think about it a lot, especially with everything going on around the world right now.
Every time I open Instagram comments, I feel an overwhelming sense of doom. Don’t even get me started on Facebook. I’m convinced Facebook users actually lose the traits that make them human when they hit post.
On the topic of social media, I blame it for this new wave of lack of empathy in the world. Shocker, I know. However, I’m not here to blame this all on social media, because at the end of the day, we should be holding ourselves accountable. I bring up social media because it’s true. I’ve been reading “You Will Get Through This Night” by Daniel Howell and agree with his social media argument. In the book, Howell connects the lack of empathy in the digital age to the anonymous features of social media.
The truth is, when you allow someone to be anonymous online, it doesn’t always bring out the best in society. We seem to have this idea that the online world is a different place from the real world, but with how big a presence social media plays in our lives, I beg to differ.
The existence of social media, and the toll we know it takes on all of our mental healths is even more of a reason to be kind.
Reality is, our brains were never ready for social media. Call me sensitive if you want, I don’t take that as an insult anymore. I would rather be sensitive than cruel. Our bodies and minds were built to hunt for food and keep us safe. We were never supposed to compare ourselves to others or handle the constant presence of the online world and cyberbullies.
Maybe the problem all along isn’t those who are sensitive; maybe the problem is we just don’t have empathy anymore. We’re all on our own paths and fighting different battles. You don’t know the impact of your harsh words, but I’m sure you’ve picked up on the fact that when we say nice things to each other, we share more smiles, more joy.
I wonder just how much brighter the world could be if we were all just a little more understanding of one another. Why bother wasting so much energy on bringing eachother down when it takes half the amount of energy to be kind and lift each other up?
Forgive me if I want the world to be as beautiful and loving as I know it can be.