Abstracting Compassion

December 5th, 2010
ea
Passing a panhandler on the street, I feel a wave of compassion. I want to help them, I tell myself not to, and then walking by I feel guilty. My inner push to help the people around me doesn't understand the logic that leads me to give instead to international development, helping people far away. It doesn't understand that however much I can give, I must allocate it to do the most good. The impulse to help just knows: there's someone in front of me that could use some money, and I have more money than I need. How do I learn how to abstract compassion away from individuals who happen to live near me and towards the people who need help most?
Referenced in:

Comment via: facebook, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Tuberculosis Considered As Dating Strategy

Against some evopsych

via Thing of Things July 8, 2025

Retrospective on life tracking and effectiveness systems

I’ve been doing life tracking for around 10 years, and this post is looking back at some things I learned from the data (since my previous retrospective in 2017). Highlights include what I get out of the Oura ring, correlations between sleep and deep work…

via Victoria Krakovna July 4, 2025

Elixir's Last Dance

On May 18th, the contra dance band Elixir had their last gig ever. The dance was packed: there were three hundred people. It was the only dance BIDA has ever done where they sold tickets. People flew from across the country just to hear Elixir play one la…

via Lily Wise's Blog Posts June 5, 2025

more     (via openring)