Second Final Question
Why should we care about what happens in the rest of the world?
We should care about what happens in the world both out of an ethical responsibility and in the self-interest of preserving our world. The amount of ethical responsibility that we have is perhaps an opinion, but I don't think that you could deny that it is there. Our world is big, but we are all the same species, and really not all that different (which is a completely different question). And every action in our world has it's consequences, and that's not just applicable to physics. It's true for every aspect of life, and is something we should keep in mind when considering our actions towards the rest of the world.
During our year in this class we have seen a lot of horrible stories. The invisible children, the Rwandan Genocide, Ishmael Beah, and Syria name just a few. You look at something like that and say "Wow, that's so horrible." and go back to your dinner. Seems somewhat unfeeling and callous, but should we care? I think that we should, and our ethical responsibility when seeing something like that is part of it. I think that we have an ethical responsibility when seeing something like that to do what we can because they are humans. We are all the same species, and we aren't really that different from each other. When it comes down to it we have the same feelings, the same ability to live. The man in that African country you've never heard of loves his family just as much as you do and doesn't want to see them hurt. Our situations are what makes us different. When seeing the Rwandan Genocide, or the LRA's desctruction, it's something foreign to us, but our empathy makes us feel sad, and feel almost guilty. I think it is our empathy that gives us some ethical responsibility to these people who are suffering. If we really were empathetic, and put ourselves in those peoples shoes, it would prove what I said before: that we really are not that different, and that those people deserve the same basic rights that we do. I thought that the TED talk about empathy that we watched really brought home that point. Putting yourself in your enemies' shoes may not be easy, but it shows us a lot.
We should also care about the world because what happens in the world, could one day happen to us. When we are asked to put ourselves in another's shoes during the TED talk, is the hypothetical situation that far off? I don't think so. Not only should we care because those horrible things could one day happen in our society, but because we should preserve our world. Our world is a limited thing, and maintaining those levels of destruction could ruin it. If we allowed acts like the Rwandan Genocide, or the use of child soldiers, to go on, how are we supposed to preserve our Earth for our children, or keep society in working order? We should help people, not only because they deserve the same rights we do, but because they deserve the same world that everybody does, and so do future generations.
Caring about what happens in the world is important, even if we do get caught up in our own little bubble too often. We have an ethical responsibility to other people in the world. That responsibility starts with our empathy, and the fact that if we will put ourselves in other peoples' shoes, we are really not that different. And if we are all the same species, we deserve the same rights. The same basic rights apply everywhere, and it is not only right for people to have them, we should actively pursue the goal of establishing them. We also have a responsibility to keep our world in working order, and to preserve a society for our children, and for others' children that will support the rights that we all deserve.
We should care about what happens in the world both out of an ethical responsibility and in the self-interest of preserving our world. The amount of ethical responsibility that we have is perhaps an opinion, but I don't think that you could deny that it is there. Our world is big, but we are all the same species, and really not all that different (which is a completely different question). And every action in our world has it's consequences, and that's not just applicable to physics. It's true for every aspect of life, and is something we should keep in mind when considering our actions towards the rest of the world.
During our year in this class we have seen a lot of horrible stories. The invisible children, the Rwandan Genocide, Ishmael Beah, and Syria name just a few. You look at something like that and say "Wow, that's so horrible." and go back to your dinner. Seems somewhat unfeeling and callous, but should we care? I think that we should, and our ethical responsibility when seeing something like that is part of it. I think that we have an ethical responsibility when seeing something like that to do what we can because they are humans. We are all the same species, and we aren't really that different from each other. When it comes down to it we have the same feelings, the same ability to live. The man in that African country you've never heard of loves his family just as much as you do and doesn't want to see them hurt. Our situations are what makes us different. When seeing the Rwandan Genocide, or the LRA's desctruction, it's something foreign to us, but our empathy makes us feel sad, and feel almost guilty. I think it is our empathy that gives us some ethical responsibility to these people who are suffering. If we really were empathetic, and put ourselves in those peoples shoes, it would prove what I said before: that we really are not that different, and that those people deserve the same basic rights that we do. I thought that the TED talk about empathy that we watched really brought home that point. Putting yourself in your enemies' shoes may not be easy, but it shows us a lot.
We should also care about the world because what happens in the world, could one day happen to us. When we are asked to put ourselves in another's shoes during the TED talk, is the hypothetical situation that far off? I don't think so. Not only should we care because those horrible things could one day happen in our society, but because we should preserve our world. Our world is a limited thing, and maintaining those levels of destruction could ruin it. If we allowed acts like the Rwandan Genocide, or the use of child soldiers, to go on, how are we supposed to preserve our Earth for our children, or keep society in working order? We should help people, not only because they deserve the same rights we do, but because they deserve the same world that everybody does, and so do future generations.
Caring about what happens in the world is important, even if we do get caught up in our own little bubble too often. We have an ethical responsibility to other people in the world. That responsibility starts with our empathy, and the fact that if we will put ourselves in other peoples' shoes, we are really not that different. And if we are all the same species, we deserve the same rights. The same basic rights apply everywhere, and it is not only right for people to have them, we should actively pursue the goal of establishing them. We also have a responsibility to keep our world in working order, and to preserve a society for our children, and for others' children that will support the rights that we all deserve.