Despite the best efforts of the press to trivialize the news and keep the public in the dark, sometimes something serious does get through. For every hour of Michael Jackson’s child abuse trial, there is a solid second on massacres in Darfur. For every couple of hours of coverage of Brad Pitt’s love life, there are a couple of seconds on the lives lost, mostly in Africa, to AIDS. Which, I guess, works out to a second an hour, too.
A second about AIDS or Darfur every week or so seems like overkill on the part of the news networks. The truth is that you don’t want to know about the horrible things going on in the world. If you want to see bodies being torn apart, you’ll play Grand Theft Auto. If you want to see bodies slowly wasting away from fatal diseases, you’ll watch the latest film featuring Lindsay Lohan or the Olsen twins.
The problem is, you can’t just say that you find war and disease disgusting and don’t want to know about it. People might think you have no compassion for the suffering of others. Okay, chances are they’re right – bastards. Rather than give them the opportunity to parade their moral superiority, you need reasons for your moral disengagement.
Here are some of the most common.
1. “I’ve already donated to LiveAid – my conscience is clear.” Of course, LiveAid was 20 years ago, and you donated $5. Your conscience comes cheap. Fortunately, the person you’re talking to doesn’t need to know that.
2. “I can’t keep track of all the horrible things going on in the world – I’ve got a job to go to so I can support my spouse and children in the life to which they have become accustomed.” This is perhaps the most common excuse for ignoring the ills of the world, primarily because there is much truth to it.
As long as you forget all the hours you waste at work surfing the Net for porn. But, forget about that. What about all those hours after work that you spend playing Grand Theft Auto and watching the porn you downloaded at work? Nice family values on you! Fortunately, unless you’re talking to Bob Geldof, the person to whom you are talking is probably in the same position, so the two of you can forget all about it together.
3. “I’m just one person. What can I do that will actually make a difference?” This one is a bit of a paradox, inasmuch as the person who claims to be too small to make a difference usually also believes, as we all do, that he or she is the center of the universe, and that everything will disappear when he or she dies.
This is an instance of what, in games theory, is known as The Prisoner’s Dilemma. Two prisoners are in jail. They are told that if they remain silent, both will get basic cable. If one of them rats on the other one, however, that person will get full cable privileges, including HBO, The Playboy Network and all of the movie channels. Through this thought experiment, it has been mathematically proven that both prisoners are watching Stacked and, because they aren’t paying attention to what you are telling them, won’t do anything.
Multiply this by 30 million households, and you get an idea of the dimension of the power of selective inattention.
4. “I’m squeamish.” Well, it’s not like anybody is asking you to go to Africa and personally watch every AIDS sufferer die. You have a job and a life – we’ve already established that. It’s kind of hard to square this with the enjoyment you get out of Grand Theft Auto, unless you put your hand over your eyes when you frag somebody, which probably makes it difficult for you to avoid the drug-addicted zombie hooker trying to poke your eye out with a knitting needle. But, okay, nobody said you had to be good at the game.
5. “Things are too complicated – I wouldn’t know what to do to help – I’m just a simple person.” Maybe you should have paid more attention to Bob Geldof. Not to worry: nobody is likely to argue with you on this…