3

Use The Effect To Do Some Damned Good

Millions of refugees have been streaming out of Syria, many of them taking perilous journeys across the Mediterranean. A lot of them died as a result, and the world more or less did not give a damn. And then the devastating image of a dead boy washed up on a beach hit the news and everything changed. Refugees had been dying for a long time by that point, but this specific image suddenly drew the world's attention to the issue. There was a sudden spike in donations to charitable groups which helped refugees, and a massive increase in political pressure on Western governments to permit more refugees into their countries. At the cost of one boy's life, people finally gave a damn.

That lasted for about a month.

The key takeaway from this isn't that humans are easily distractible monsters. No, it's that, even for a month, something did actually happen. The image of a single person's tragedy helped prompt action to address the wider tragedy. Which means if you've got a worthy enough cause, then by all means, use whatever powerful examples of individual suffering to illustrate it that you can. And because the effect will be short-lived, ensure there are ways for people to help right now. Have that donate button set up. Put that senator's phone number in there. Get your pile of pitchforks ready. You won't get a second chance at this.

2

Don't Let Yourself Be Manipulated

As the more devious among you have just realized, that means this effect can be manipulated. Indeed, you can usually tell how someone wants you to think about an issue by whether they frame it with statistics or with an individual's own experience. The classic example is a politician trotting some Regular Joe out on stage to talk about their challenges -- "My first name is 'Regular' and people mock me for it" -- and how the politician will make their life better (again, usually via salty snacks).

But politicians are scum, we know that. What about someone unassailable, a group seemingly perfect in everyone's eyes, like the media? Well, consider this example: Healthcare (or a lack of it) affects millions of people in a variety of ways. Anecdotal evidence is of limited use here; someone else's experience with the healthcare system might not be super relevant to you or the rest of the country. So can you guess what this CNN story about an individual family's challenge with healthcare is trying to make you feel? That's not prodding the rational thought parts of your monkey brain, is it? In fairness, CNN does the statistical version of this story too, and both are accepted reporting techniques. Just be sure you understand when it's your heartstrings being tugged harder than your stronger, girthier brainstrings.

Or consider global warming. So the sea level is rising a few millimeters a year, and that's bad, but ... it's not a very gripping image is it? Almost all the other potential impacts of global warming have a similar problem -- they're hard to visualize or far off in the future or somewhat statistical. Which is why you've probably seen variants of this image a hundred times ...

Greenpeace

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Remember That Even Partial Fixes Do Good

Finally, let's consider what to do if you don't have a single, photogenic person to save. You've just got the statistics, the grim news report, the excel spreadsheet filled with column after column of drowning polar bears. It's easy to feel helpless in the face of huge problems like this. There's no way to save hundreds of thousands of refugees, so you shake your head and do nothing.

But just like the example with the Syrian refugees, even if people only cared for a month, that still did a lot of good. Fixing 1 percent of a problem sounds pathetic, but if that problem is the "death of a thousand people," congratulations, you saved ten lives. You don't have to tackle the insurmountable problem; you can just tackle the little bit in front of you.

Greenpeace

Chris Bucholz is a Cracked columnist and is shopping for kayaks right this minute. As the author of the amazing novels Freeze/Thaw and Severance, he thinks you should definitely go buy both of those now. Join him on Facebook or Twitter.

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