As I live rationally, I started to ignore others’ misfortunes. Although it may sound like I am cold-hearted, that style gave me a balanced living. Let’s talk about it.
How to avoid unnecessary empathizing
Sometimes, we feel a sense of helplessness, especially when we see others’ misfortunes that we cannot solve. An example is news on TV. They always report unhappiness, which contains emotional reactions such as anger and sadness. We can do nothing but empathize with them. That disturbs us emotionally.
However, I often felt that there was something off about their claims. Although I could not put the reason in words, my intuition told me that I have to neither listen to them nor help them.
Recently, I finally could verbalize it. Many misfortunes are not worth empathizing with and helping. That allowed me to ignore others’ misfortunes and identify the people I want to help the most.
An example of a labor shortage
Although empathy makes us want to help others with misfortunes, we don’t need to be involved in many of them. That allows us to focus on the people we want to help the most, including ourselves.
Rationality tells us who to help. In other words, those who should not be helped are making unreasonable claims. We need to evaluate their reasons.
Examples will make it easier to understand, so let’s look at them.
Several days ago, I watched the news on TV, which introduced a bus company suffering from a labor shortage. The news said that such labor shortages in socially fundamental fields were serious, and they were making society unstable.
However, their claim is logically wrong. The problem is not a labor shortage but their low productivity.
For example, if the company doubles or triples the drivers’ salary, more and more drivers would want to work for that company. In other words, the problem is not a labor shortage. The true problem is a labor shortage of those who do hard labor for cheap pay. The bus company is just lamenting that fewer people are willing to work for low wages.
In the economy, necessary things will remain, while unnecessary ones will disappear in the long term. They are the natural laws.
That tells us we don’t have to listen to the company’s laments. The economy is competitive. It is not the place where weak companies should be helped. The company’s president is responsible for making a profit. The president who complains about a deficit is the same one who abandons his job. We don’t need to help such a person.
An example of being imprisoned
Let’s look at another example.
I saw another news program that introduced a man who was imprisoned for criticizing the head of state. The TV program said that it was unforgivable.
However, that claim doesn’t make sense. Society is something for stability. If someone criticizes a stable society, it is natural for it to retaliate against him.
In other words, they are fighting each other for their profits and stability. It is not a field for charity but competition. In such a field, despite being in a weak position, he attacked the stronger without any effective strategy. There is no wonder he is punished.
That awareness enables us to ignore their misfortunes. They are ignorant, neither unlucky nor unrewarded.
Simple things vs. complex things
There is causality. Some are obvious, while some are chaotic. We can call them laws of nature or reality.
Irrational people treat them wrongly. They see chaotic matters, such as life and happiness, as simple. They believe accomplishing only one aspect of life is always the best. Similarly, they consider simple issues, such as competition and their faults, as complex social matters.
We don’t need to help them. They are now learning reality and causality. Unreasonable behaviors will make it difficult for them to live.
Rationality allows us to discern who to help. It includes ourselves. When there is no one we want to help, that is the time to make ourselves abundant. We don’t have to be empathic in places that don’t require empathy. Similarly, we sometimes need to be empathetic to ourselves. Judge them rationally.
That makes our lives easier and prevents mental exhaustion.
Conclusion
That is why many misfortunes are not worth empathizing with and helping.
Judge rationally.
That would allow us to ignore others’ misfortunes and identify the people we want to help the most.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
