The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World

Zaki begins Chapter 7 by discussing how “technology is widely viewed as our era’s biggest threat to empathy” (145). One reason for this view is that technology reduces in-person interactions. The internet provides a space for people to be emotionally distant and hide. For example, strangers willingly shot Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilal over 60,000 times for 30 days with a loud paintball gun; on a separate occasion, a drone-directed missile strike killed Bilal’s brother. Bilal wanted to show the world how easy it was to kill when sat behind a screen. Although the shooting was part of his art exhibit, it still proved his point: People are willing to cause destruction when they do not see its ramifications in-person.

The internet also makes it more difficult for humans to understand each other’s emotions. There is a correlation between internet usage and a country’s level of empathy. Countries with a higher rate of internet usage have a lower level of empathy. Zaki notes that “when people read each other’s words, as opposed to hearing their voices, they’re more likely to dehumanize them—especially if they disagree with what they say” (147). People only go to sources they trust or that reaffirm their own