Statistics Vs. Story
Why Do Tragedy Statistics Fail to Impact Us, While Stories Do?
Consider these numbers:
- Genghis Khan killed 40 million people.
- Hitler killed 6 million people.
- US-led invasion of Iraq killed around 183,249-205,785 Iraqi civilians.
- Is- rael killed at least 39,480 people (including 15,000 children) from 7 Oct 2023 to 31 July 2024.
Did you feel any anguish or remorse for the victims? No, right?
The phenomenon you just experienced is called psychic numbing. We feel emotionally disconnected when we hear about the sufferings of a large number of people.
It is because numbers can't invoke emotions in us. We are unable to relate to the numbers.
But you might have noticed that, when you hear stories of individual sufferings, you feel miserable.
Because now you know the individual, know their backstory, know the current situation, and know their emotional state, which helps you empathize with them. It’s called the identifiable victim effect.
You might have observed that, people are generally indifferent to all the tyranny, oppression, disasters, etc happening in different parts of the world. Nothing goes viral.
But the moment they find a photo, video, or documentary about an individual in that tragedy, they go crazy about it. Because now they have a story.
A story makes us imagine ourselves in the circumstances of the victim/protagonist. Only then can we close the psychological distance between us and the characters.
We humans love stories. Focusing on a single story helps us comprehend the situation. A story can make us dive into a different reality and experience the emotions.
On the other hand, statistics are just numbers to us. They can describe the magnitude of a tragedy but can't express the atrocities faced by an individual.
So, it is very important to tell the story of one victim if you want to describe the horror of a tragedy. You can later amplify it by telling the actual statistics of total affected individuals.
I am keen to know about your views on this article and suggestions.
