Scientific research conducted at the University of Southern California has resulted in the claim that fast-moving virtual games and online news feeds may be encouraging indifference to human suffering:
In a media culture in which violence and suffering become an endless show, indifference to the vision of human suffering gradually sets in.
This research was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is summarised in the latest edition of Philosophy Now. The research involved studying the responses of volunteers to real-life stories chosen to induce compassion for physical or social pain. Brain-imaging was used to record how fast humans responded to signs physical and social suffering. This discovered that humans could respond in fractions of a second to signs of physical pain in others. However, it took much longer for social emotions like compassion or admiration to register. The researchers saw in this implications for life in a digital world:
For some kinds of thought, especially moral decision-making about other people’s social and psychological situations, we need to allow for adequate time and reflection.
www.facetofaceintercultural.com.au
Posted October 18, 2009
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