Automating Empathy Away
+ The next crisis after the climate crisis, and an article that might literally save lives (#447)
A quick teaser before we get to this week's recommendations: I've started compiling all your book recommendations — and as in previous years, I'm impressed by the depth and breadth of the all the contributions. So is, apparently, ChatGPT. I gave it the complete list and asked it what it can say about a person that likes these books:
🤖
This reading list is quite eclectic, with wide-ranging interests across a broad spectrum of genres and disciplines. Overall, this person's reading list indicates a well-rounded reader with a thirst for knowledge and understanding in a variety of domains, from personal growth to social issues and from environmental consciousness to explorations of history and alternative perspectives.
I think I'll be ready next week. Until then...
1. A rise in self-service technologies may cause a decline in our sense of community
As we increasingly substitute human contact for robot-based interactions — think self-checkout counters or ordering food via delivery apps — do we become less empathetic? It might well be. «However fleeting, exposure to people outside of your own socio-demographic groups affect attitudes positively. [...] Face-to-face interaction typically reduces intergroup prejudice.»
![](https://images.theconversation.com/files/519601/original/file-20230405-22-uf4pfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C130%2C2500%2C1250&q=45&auto=format&w=1356&h=668&fit=crop)
2. Deep warming
Even when we find ways out of the current climate crisis, the laws of thermodynamics will have another challenge for us: waste heat. This kind of warming won't a problem now or in the near future, but maybe in 150 years. And a lot depends upon which new energy sources we replace fossil fuels with.
![](https://omicron.aeon.co/images/c3e974dd-b157-4204-a4e3-0eec82800b88/header_essay-final-par437378.jpg)
3. Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
It's rare that reading an article might literally save lives. That's why I re-share this piece that I've featured twice before in the Weekly Filet. Movies and Baywatch have given us a misleading impression of what drowning looks like — so we might not see it if somebody was drowning right in front of us.
![](https://mariovittone.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/drowning.jpg)