Comments on: The collapse of compassion http://liftlab.com/think/laurent/2007/09/29/the-collapse-of-compassion/ Thoughts on a changing society. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:14:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.2.1 By: laurent http://liftlab.com/think/laurent/2007/09/29/the-collapse-of-compassion/#comment-4700 laurent Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:25:29 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/laurent/2007/09/29/the-collapse-of-compassion/#comment-4700 Definitely true, and very common? It's like with truth in politics, it seems the bigger a lie is, the easier it will go through with public opinion. There is room for a nice study on the psychology of public opinion. Definitely true, and very common?
It’s like with truth in politics, it seems the bigger a lie is, the easier it will go through with public opinion. There is room for a nice study on the psychology of public opinion.

]]> By: K http://liftlab.com/think/laurent/2007/09/29/the-collapse-of-compassion/#comment-4637 K Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:41:51 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/laurent/2007/09/29/the-collapse-of-compassion/#comment-4637 "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." -- Joseph Stalin It seems that dictators have understood this for a long time. “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.”
— Joseph Stalin

It seems that dictators have understood this for a long time.

]]> By: Scott Smith http://liftlab.com/think/laurent/2007/09/29/the-collapse-of-compassion/#comment-1470 Scott Smith Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:20:36 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/laurent/2007/09/29/the-collapse-of-compassion/#comment-1470 I gave a talk at UNICEF earlier this year about the theme of Massively Parallel Emotion, the idea that technology (broadcast, Internet, messaging) creates the ability for everyone who is connected to experience collective emotional experience almost in real time. The example I gave that day was of the recent Mexico City earthquake, which was essentially crowd-reported via Twitter as it happened, in advance of actual confirmation by seismologists. As I gave the talk, the shootings at Virginia Tech were underway (we couldn't know it at the time), which provided a very sad example of the same theme. The talk at UNICEF was in response to the organization's realization after the Asian tsunami that in fact communication technology and media can be harnessed to allow response to this Massively Parallel Emotion in a constructive fashion. The junta in Myanmar recognize this as well, and have taken steps to cut Internet access and confiscate communication technology to reduce the scale of the "emotional surge". Being better prepared for how technology and communication channels may be used in the next global or regional crisis can give UNICEF and other NGOs a greater ability to be of assistance sooner. I gave a talk at UNICEF earlier this year about the theme of Massively Parallel Emotion, the idea that technology (broadcast, Internet, messaging) creates the ability for everyone who is connected to experience collective emotional experience almost in real time. The example I gave that day was of the recent Mexico City earthquake, which was essentially crowd-reported via Twitter as it happened, in advance of actual confirmation by seismologists. As I gave the talk, the shootings at Virginia Tech were underway (we couldn’t know it at the time), which provided a very sad example of the same theme.

The talk at UNICEF was in response to the organization’s realization after the Asian tsunami that in fact communication technology and media can be harnessed to allow response to this Massively Parallel Emotion in a constructive fashion. The junta in Myanmar recognize this as well, and have taken steps to cut Internet access and confiscate communication technology to reduce the scale of the “emotional surge”.

Being better prepared for how technology and communication channels may be used in the next global or regional crisis can give UNICEF and other NGOs a greater ability to be of assistance sooner.

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