Imagine you bought yourself a new, expensive outfit. You're feeling real good about your choices in life, so you decide to strut your stuff and show the neighborhood what's up.
Suddenly, you notice a child, all alone, struggling to stay afloat in a nearby lake. No one is around. Now, they look like they're drowning. Naturally, you know if you don't do anything, this child won't make it. Would you jump in?
Of course, you would! You're no monster - clothes be damned. But ethicist and philosopher Peter Singer developed this ethical thought experiment to ask something else. If you can't ignore a drowning child in front of you, how can you ignore those in trouble all around the world?
It's an uncomfortable realization, to know you're not and you can't do everything to help those most vulnerable among us. We're more than seven billion strong, there is no way one person can do it all. Besides, you have to put on your own mask first, right?
We're tasked with the impossible - to balance the responsibility of staying informed about our world on fire and meanwhile trying not to lose sleep or our minds. It can be too much. We're forced to make smaller circles, to focus on "our own". To draw a line, even for a drowning child somewhere else, because it's "not my problem". It has to become a little bit of everyone's problem. And that's why we have society. The expectation is we could all chip in and take care of the least fortunate among us.
But there is an even more insidious flaw to the system - schadenfreude.
You might not know the word but you've felt it. If you grew up with America's Funniest Videos or even giggle as much as I do when someone trips, that's schadenfreude. It is the German word for taking pleasure in others' misfortune.
The Nerdwriter made a fantastic video on the idea back in June 2017. Which, to be honest, feels like a lifetime ago. He explained that schadenfreude might exist as a reaction to our constant internal comparison to others. When someone else experiences an innocent misfortune, we get a little boost. Almost like "thank god I'm better off." Or maybe it's more wholesome, and we just like to see someone struggle and realize we're not alone.
But what The Nerdwriter explained was how Trump unknowingly introduced schadenfreude to politics. He didn't do it on purpose. He's not smart enough for that. He was just his arrogant, bombastic self on the political trail. Media, both social and traditional, registered our delight in watching him look stupid as genuine interest. And they fed the country more and more. Until he won.
Almost four years later, it's not funny anymore. It can't be. We can't even laugh at an unpolished orange when he can't drink water properly because we're too busy noticing all the children in the lakes.
What schadenfreude sidesteps and this thought experiment highlights is that if we strip it all away, we're on the same team. You can take pleasure in the misfortune of your enemies but that doesn't make anyone better. It only fuels the fire between us.
We need leaders that care. We need the people that will jump in the lake. And I know that's a tall order, especially with our current choices, but I want to see some heart. I no longer want to be entertained 24/7.
Dave Chappelle knows. With his latest special "8:46", arguably the best comedian of all time gathered people, outside, not far from his Ohio neighborhood, and didn't try to make them laugh. He channeled the world's pain, bridging gaps, the only way he could, between stories of his own and others, stories of history and our current struggles. He even took the time to ask the audience - "Is this weird?" And you have to wonder too - is it weird to not want to be entertained anymore?
Okay, that was a heavy one but, like everything else it needed to be said. I hope I can find more fun for next week. In the meantime, let's check out some of the cool shit I found on the internet:
Scientifically-sound advice is hard to come by during a novel pandemic. This week, The New York Times provided a guide to hugging and I think it's what plenty of us need right now.
In need of some more responsible journalism about our nation's current debate - Police: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Some say a film is made three times. We know the directors and the writers, but we never celebrate the editors. With that being said, there is probably a very important filmmaker you've never heard of and it's probably because she was a woman.
Need some uniquely funky tunes?
Louis Cole turns a house upside down to perform - F it up
MonoNeon performs 'Fallin' and I found my favorite YouTube comment ever below it - "Man that blanket can play."
If you were moved by Chappelle's special and you want to learn more about how history got us here, I highly recommend 13th on Netflix.
An author of more than a dozen books and a personal daily blog running entries into the thousands, Seth Godin is never short on ideas. A recent entry titled invisible insulation is worth reading.
Until next time...