It's almost like there's a "scale of the problem" effect. If you see a picture of one starving child, you're much more likely to give than if you're presented w

It's almost like there's a "scale of the problem" effect. If you see a picture of one starving child, you're much more likely to give than if you're presented with statistics on the three-some billion people who live on less than $2.50 a day. Maybe our minds bucket each tragedy we're presented as 'one problem,' then estimate our ability to make a difference on that 'one problem' before expending energy on it. This heuristic produces inconsistent results, but it's not a crazy heuristic if boiled down to: "fight the battles you can win." One solution could be to remind people to subdivide problems and tasks into goals that can be accomplished, not sure. See also: http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/11/05/361433850/why-your-brain-wants-to-help-one-child-in-need-but-not-millions http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/11/05/36143385... Citing: http://globaljustice.uoregon.edu/files/2014/07/Whoever-Saves-One-Life-Saves-the-World-1wda5u6.pdf http://globaljustice.uoregon.edu/files/2014/07/Whoever-Saves... And: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-sta...