Morning Vibes With Dr. Jerry - the First - Episode 276/6 Things People should Care Less About - Mass Shootings And Terrorism

Sunday                          17th June 2018

Morning Vibes With Dr. Jerry - the First

Hello and welcome to #MorningVibesWithDrJerryTheFirst-Episode 276

Title:          6 Things People should Care Less About - Mass Shootings And Terrorism

1. MASS SHOOTINGS AND TERRORISM

You probably thought I was going to start this list off with something cute and cliche like, “Stop caring what people think about you,” right?

Well, you lost me on that.

Let’s offend some people.

I think we should care less about mass shootings and terrorism.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t defend ourselves or that these events don’t matter or that gun violence in general isn’t an issue.

I’m simply saying that our emotional and social reactions to mass shooting incidents are both unnecessary and potentially harmful.

First, there are the practical considerations:

you’re as likely to die from a refrigerator falling on you as a terrorist attack,

and that mass shooting deaths constitute less than 1% of gun-related deaths in the US (pro tip:2/3 of gun -related deaths are suicides).

If we’re going purely by statistical effects on society at large, these don’t even rank in the top 10 in terms of threats or dangers to the population.

But here is why it seems that mass shootings and terrorism (and let’s be honest, they’re almost the same thing) are such a big deal:

Because they go viral.

Today, culture is dominated by what gets attention for the simple reason that what gets attention spreads the fastest and farthest.

And if something dominates our culture, we just assume that that person or event is important.

Let’s call this “The Kardashian Rule.”

The Kardashian Rule: 

The more viral a person or event is, the more the culture will overestimate its importance.

I’ve called this The Kardashian Rule because a few years ago, Kim Kardashian did a nude photoshoot for a mainstream magazine.

It dominated the news media for days, with all sorts of unironic think-pieces considering what the photoshoot signified for celebrity behavior, women’s rights, sexual liberation, and on and on.

Of course, it meant absolutely nothing.

In fact, it was such a non-event that you probably don’t even remember it.

But you probably do know that Kim Kardashian is somehow one of the most famous people on the planet.

This is despite the fact that she has done nothing, continues to do nothing, and shows no promise of ever doing anything.

This is because Kim is the original master of The Kardashian Rule.

She recognized it before anybody else — that he/she who commands the most attention will be the most rewarded — and capitalized on it massively.

The rest of us have spent the last 10 years trying to catch up.

The Kardashian Rule implies a few things.

The first is that how important a thing actually is matters little. What matters is how shocking and memorable a piece of information is.

We all remember the Vegas shooting from last year and chances are, many of you could tell me all about it — who the guy was, how he did it, what guns he used, and so on.

But chances are that few to none of you could describe in any detail the congressional redistricting court cases now being heard by the US Supreme Court. When these cases will likely be far more significant to the future of our country and all of our lives.

This isn’t to downplay the victims of these events. Obviously, it’s some unwanted shit, and we are right to be horrified.

But let’s be real: just because we’re horrified doesn’t mean they were actually significant or influential events.

Every form of media has an unintended weakness.

Television unintentionally made physical appearance more significant and turned everything into sound bites.

Back before the internet, people were obsessed with UFOs and ghosts and Satanic cults, because they looked really scary on television.

People regularly voted for the taller and better-looking politician, regardless of party or beliefs.

The internet's unintentional weakness is that it creates a culture that is overly susceptible to viral events and information.

Because here’s the second thing about the Kardashian Rule:

the success of some viral event or person is wholly dependent on our reactions to that event or person.

If we all agreed Instagram was a waste of time and we had better things to do, these vapid Instagram celebrities with their photoshopped pictures would disappear from our lives.

That’s not to say that if we stopped caring about mass shootings and terrorism, they’d instantly disappear, but much of the oxygen that keeps them going would leave the room.

The whole goal of mass shootings and terrorism is attention.

That’s the only reason people do them.

Terrorists do heinous things to draw attention to their particular religious/political beliefs.

Mass shooters do it to bring attention upon themselves.

Therefore, mass shootings and terrorism only “succeed” because of the Kardashian Rule: because they are so shocking and unexpected that they go extremely viral.

They are basically just violent publicity stunts, carried about by desperate and insane people who crave notoriety and fame for themselves (or their whackjob cause). If you remove the fame from the equation, chances are you also remove a large percentage of these events from happening.

That might sound insane, but there’s a precedent for this.

Decades ago, it was discovered that when the news media reported on suicides, the suicide rate in that area would go up.

Scientists studied why this was happening and eventually concluded that broadcasting successful suicides gave other suicidal people a sense of validation, making it an acceptable choice.

That suicide could be an effective way to get the attention, affection, and pity they had so desperately wanted in their life.

That it could be seen as something inspirational: “Here is someone who felt exactly like me, and they actually did it!”

They called it the Weather Effect.

And when it was discovered, the media all got together and did the responsible thing: they agreed to stop reporting on suicides. Boom, suicide rate drops again.

What we have here is a Weather Effect, but for highly public, highly politicized mass killings.

Mass shootings are contagious.

Most of these shooters and terrorists struggle with mental health, feel ostracized and ignored, and desperately crave attention and emotion from the people around them.

They feel they have no options in life, that they will be perpetually unheard and ignored.

They have violent impulses and intense amounts of anger and don’t know how to manage or channel those feelings.

Then they see another story go viral about someone shooting up a school, or an office, or blowing up innocent people, and see that they become an instant celebrity, reviled and obsessed over by millions of people around the country.

It’s a quick and easy way to get the attention and significance they so desperately craved all their lives.

I don’t click on articles about shootings anymore.

I don’t click on videos about the gun debate.

I don’t read about terrorism in the news and despite the fact that the Austin bomber was blowing up people in my hometown, I didn’t read a single article about it. Fuck that guy. He doesn’t deserve my time or attention, nor does he deserve to have his name printed anywhere.

I refuse to engage any media about these people anymore.

Because the only way to counteract the Kardashian Rule is by simply withdrawing your attention.

To decide that you don't care a hoot about it anymore.

And to go focus on something else that’s actually important (like congressional redistricting).

This does not mean you stick your head in the sand.

Clearly, there’s a problem.

But am I really helping to solve that problem by clicking on every weeping interview with survivors,

or reading about what the shooter had for breakfast that morning,

or what psychotic religious cause some guy wrote about before he shot up his entire office?

No, I’m not. In fact, I’m probably making it worse.

Until I come your way again, this is #MorningVibesWithDrJerryTheFirst

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Written By Mark Manson

Source:     Mark Manson