indurate
indurate
to make hard; harden, as rock, tissue, etc.
These last few years have changed people. They’re colder, hardened. Inaction that results in preventable deaths is condoned. Articles describe the positive health impacts of apathy. Many off-ramps are available for those looking to compromise their morals.
We’re encouraged to skip over anything that gets in the way of our consumption. Told that if we were just focusing on the game, we wouldn’t have seen pieces of a kid hanging from the side of a smoldering apartment building. Better to ignore it, then you’ll be like everyone else. Happy, with the atrocities on mute, like everyone else.
It’s a matter of balance though, as repeated exposure to traumatizing imagery takes a toll. When I first saw the image at the top of this page, I thought it was dead children. I've seen so much carnage over this last year that my brain went there by default. That doesn’t go away when you close a tab. Neither do the nightmares when it all adds up.
Professionals who document atrocities all warn about the harm caused by taking in too much of these horrors. There are ways to stay apprised of tragic events that are less visceral. Consider recalibrating your news intake for a bit if you find yourself uncaring, growing too much of a shell. Take stock and make sure you’re not letting your values drift.
Beware anyone who uses Venn diagrams to determine another’s humanity.
ContextFall
A Mushroom Cloud by Sammy Salvo
Dehumanization and the Normalization of Violence: It’s Not What You Think by Aliza Luft
Marshmallows by D.A. Xiaolin Spires