Thanks for writing this, Baratunde — I always feel fortunate to read your thoughts on complicated stuff like this.

I think empathy is really hard for humans. More specifically, I think the way empathy diminishes with degrees of separation — its falloff function, is a really steep curve. I imagine this function like a set of concentric rings. Most people care about themselves and their immediate family a lot — that’s the inner ring which is up at a very high level. Close friends are the next ring, still fairly high. After that, it starts to fall off steeply— that’s where the next ring gets tribal, and people empathize with other people who they perceive to be more like them. The articles that rang most true to me about why Trump’s comments last week were the straw that broke the camel’s back for many conservatives said essentially: “muslims, latinos , the disabled— these people are The Other to most conservatives — but now Trump was disrespecting white women!” The latest disrespect finally landed on the upward slope of their empathy curve — on conservatives’ tribal ring whereas his previous comments had just been out in the flat long tail of the curve where they didn’t feel it. So I think a useful way to frame the question is: how can we change the shape of that empathy curve so it doesn’t fall off so precipitously? How do we get people to see *everyone* — all humans, as part of their tribe?