Another mass shooting. More hate. More protests. More anger. More outrage. It's heart-breaking and gut wrenching. And emotionally exhausting. Have we reached the limits of compassion? There is science (and math) behind that numbness that you feel.
As of this writing, we’ve lived through more mass shootings than days this year. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 2019 is on pace to see more, on average, than one mass shooting every single day. We remain the only developed country where mass shootings are a common occurrence. We are the greatest nation on the planet, and yet, so fervently divided about both the cause and any viable solution.
We live in a time when it seems that we’ve barely had the chance to mourn one tragedy when another one hits. Despite the ever-widening chasm of social, moral, and political righteousness and the boom of passionate voices – from social movements and civic responsibility to peaceful protests and menacing riots – we’ve become numb to it all. We’ve become passionately apathetic.
Psychic numbing is an unconscious cognitive defense mechanism and none of us are immune to it. Check out my recent article, Numbing Down America, to learn more about this psychological phenomenon and how to overcome it.
If you found value in this, I urge you to share it. Maybe someone else will get past the numbness to help one person. And another. And another.
