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Ask HN: What is a reasonable response to “Why should I care if I can’t help it?”
When I discuss news about problems elsewhere in the world (amazing being burned, poverty in other nations, climate change, etc), an argument that I often hear (and which can be seen in some of the downvoted comments in [1]) is "Why should I care? There's nothing that I can do about it."
What is an appropriate response to this? I can say that if affects all of us, but again, they always say "I can do nothing about it, so why do I need to even know about it?"
[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/cumrqz/ysk_the_amazon_rain_forest_isnt_burning_its_being/
- gregjor 7y agoDo you have good reasons for caring, reasons other people can understand? Do you do anything about these problems? Maybe you don’t need an “appropriate response.” Find something of common interest to talk about, or find other people who share your interests.
- karmakaze 7y agoMy response would fall under "Think globally, act locally." You can't solve the big problem, but you should act in a manner that if everyone does as you do, then the big problem would get tackled. In cases where your local choices have no impact, limiting your exposure to the information can be a good idea but still keep a way to get some of it from time to time. There has to be a distinction made between "I don't care because I don't think it will affect me" vs. "I'm not giving much attention because I don't have a way to make a difference." I try to avoid the first kind. TBH, even if a person responded with the first, I couldn't really argue their choice.