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Bertrand Russell on statistical empathy — EA Forum

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I love this line. I've taken to calling this ability "statistical empathy." I think it's one of the core values required to do good in the modern world. This quote is widely attributed to Betrand Russell, though I don't think he actually wrote it. He may be responsible for articulating the idea, though. Re http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/02/20/moved-by-stats/ the probable source is a chapter titled "The Aims of Education" in Russell's 1926 "Education and the Good Life" (emphasis added): The next stage in the development of a desirable form of sensitiveness is sympathy. There is a purely physical sympathy: a very young child will cry because a brother or sister is crying. This, I suppose, affords the basis for the further developments. The two enlargements that are needed are: first, to feel sympathy even when the sufferer is not an object of special affection; secondly, to feel it when the suffering is merely known to be occurring, not sensibly present. The second of these enlargemen

Ben_Rhodes 10y 2 0 0 Thanks for sharing! :) "statistical empathy" will now be a permanent part of my vocabulary. I would love to see people sharing "statistics that made me cry". Here's mine. Reply

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