Question:
Why is it that one death is a tragedy, but 1,000 deaths is just a statistic?
According to statistics, Angola (a country in Africa, for all of you who don’t know geography and actually think Europe is a country) has the highest IMR (or Infant Mortality Rate for those of you that aren’t acronym savvy) with 192.5 stillbirths out of every 1000. Who is helping Angola better themselves so that less children die? Not me, not you. (Chances are you’re not even donating to the “Feed the Children” thing that save hundreds of children. I know I’m not. Why? Because I’m a selfish American prick and the gluttony of this country has taught me that I shouldn’t care that others are staving as long as I get my Caribbean Passion Jamba Juice with an energy or soy protein boost.)
You might be able to write me an essay on heart disease and cancer (the two top killers in the U.S.), but you probably haven’t even heard of nephritis and septicemia (the 9th and 10th top killers in the U.S.) which together kill more people a year than diabetes(number 6 on the American Homicide list).
However, when one person dies (especially celebrities), it’s a huge deal. Some people think Elvis is still alive. 7% of Americans over the age 18, admitted to believing that Elvis is still alive.
But our sympathy is not limited to people. Recently, people were up in arms about an “artist” who left a dog to starve and die on display and called it art. People went apeshit over this. It turned out to be a hoax. But it was the perfect social experiment. It showed how much people cared over one little thing that they couldn’t change.
So, why is it that one death is a tragedy, but 1,000 deaths is just a statistic?
Personally, I think it’s because people understand what one death feels like, they can relate. But when the newscaster says that thousands of people just died during an earthquake in China, they think “Wow, that sucks.” and then go watch reruns of the Hills on MTV. They can’t relate. They can’t wrap their head around a thousand. It’s too big (That’s What She Said).
