THIS is with reference to the article ‘Two tragedies, two Pakistans’ (June 24) and the letter ‘Uncomfortable comparisons between two tragedies at sea’ (June 25), which talked about the loss of human lives in contrasting scenarios.

The global reaction to the capsizing of a boat with hundreds of migrants contrasted sharply with the attention given to the death of five uber-rich people on the Titan. The difference was partly due to the manner in which the two tragedies were covered by the media, but, more than that, it was an indication of how humans react to events.

In my observation, the human mind tends to connect more deeply with individual narratives and images than with abstract numbers. For instance, had there been a detailed story of a single mother with her two babies onboard the Adriana, the boat that sank in Greek waters, there likely would have been a far more substantial public outcry.

We, the humans, comprehend tragedies and the gravity of situations in individual units, and when presented with large, anonymous numbers, such as the 750 people on the capsized boat, the individual human stories can often get lost in the sea of statistics.

The tragedy of the five individuals trapped in the submersible naturally drew more attention because it involved a smaller, more comprehensible number of lives, each with a vividly individual narrative.

The public empathises more readily with tangible, relatable stories than with large-scale, impersonal tragedies. Our empathy can be triggered more intensely by the fate of one known, named individual than by hundreds of anonymous, faceless victims.

This is not to justify the differences in response, but rather to highlight the psychological underpinnings of our empathetic reactions. However, while understanding this phenomenon is important, we must also recognise the larger systemic factors at play. Socioeconomic disparities, global refugee policies, media biases, and other factors indeed contribute significantly to these contrasting reactions.

For us to respond more compassionately and effectively to such large-scale tragedies, it is crucial that we strive to understand and remember the individual human stories behind the numbers. Each life lost in such a tragedy is not just a number, but a unique human being with dreams, hopes and a personal history.

Chandru Mahtani
Dubai

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2023