Why was the West’s response muted compared to Paris

SUNDAY, JUL 3, 2016 10:00 PM +0900
Istanbul and the empathy gap: Why was the West’s response muted compared to Paris or Brussels?
Our brains are wired to feel more empathy for people who look like us. Luckily, we're capable of closing the gap
JALAL BAIG

中東で起きるテロより、欧米でおきるテロの被害者に同情しやすい理由のひとつ

Studies done on the brain are revealing here. Observing the pain of others stimulates sensory and emotional areas of the brain (anterior cingulate cortex and insula cortex) that have been associated with empathy. Research using functional MRI (fMRI) to assess brain activity by changes in blood flow has shown that activation of these areas is contingent on the race of the observed person, such that observing someone of one’s own race in pain leads to greater activity in these empathy centers of the brain compared to a person of a different race. People will be more empathetic towards the suffering of someone from their own race or ethnic group. Death of an own-race person from a terrorist attack is thus more likely to be viewed as a tragedy as opposed to the death of an other-race person from a similar cause. Yet fortunately, our ability to empathize is entirely capable of overcoming the confines of race.

A study published in 2015 examined Chinese students who had emigrated to Australia within the past six months to five years to assess whether their abilities to empathize with other-race individuals had improved over time with increased exposure. The participants watched videos of own-race/other-race individuals receiving painful or non-painful touch. As expected, the racial bias was evident and these Chinese students had a greater brain or neural response when observing pain in own-race compared to other-race individuals. However, significantly greater empathy for other-race individuals was observed in Chinese students who had increased contact with different races over time. Just normal, everyday contact with individuals of other races was found to be sufficient in order to achieve this heightened level of empathy and more personal or intimate experience was not necessary. Simple exposure to people of other races thus shows that they are no different from us and inevitably engenders more empathy for their pain.

　人間は自分と同じ人種の人達の苦しみに反応するが、異なる人種の人については反応しにくい。もっとも、普段、異なる人種の人々に接している場合は、異なる人種の人々に対して共感する割合が増加してくる、と。

　欧米のジャーナリズムは白人に支配されていますから、白人が被害者だと大きく扱うわけですね。

　翻って、圧倒的に多くの日本人は、身近に白人や、肌の色の黒い系統、あるいは、浅黒い系統の人たちと身近に接するということがかなり少ない。

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