Why Do I Care More About Fictional Characters Than Real Life People?
Humans have a natural tendency to connect with others, even if those others are fictional characters in books, movies, or television shows. The emotional connection we can feel to fictional characters can be just as strong, if not stronger, than the connection we have with real people.
Relatability
Fictional characters are designed to be relatable. They often have qualities, experiences, or personalities that mirror our own, or the traits we aspire to possess. This similarity creates a bond between us and the character, making it easier to empathize with their situation and understand their emotions. The more we connect with the character, the more invested we become in their story, and the more we care about what happens to them.
In contrast, real-life people can be more complex and challenging to understand. We don’t always know their experiences or personalities in the same depth as we do with fictional characters. We can know more about them but still lack a coherent model to understand them as a whole, or parts of their personality may conflict with other parts making them ‘confusing’ in ways that fictional characters normally are not.
