Mindful Monday - The Cure for Perilous Indifference

Cure: Relieve a condition.

Perilous: Full of danger or risk.

Indifference: Lack of interest, concern, or sympathy. A psychological attitude of detachment.

Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Apathy: Feeling indifferent or lacking emotion.

Indifference is an energy, force, that is a state of emotion, either permanent in condition or circumstantially. It is palpable and unmistakable. As there is a distinct energy, off-glow, of warmth, caring, and positivity from the individual who exudes compassion, there is also a noticeable roiling sensation from the harboring of apathetic, lonely, and negative energy which manifests into indifference.

Indifference is a toxic and destructive internal value system attacking the soul, denigrating societal order.

Symptoms of Perilous Indifference:

It’s not my problem.

There’s nothing I can do.

It’s not my job.

I can’t make a difference.

How can I change it?

Nothing matters.

What I say, do, or believe doesn’t matter.

It’s not my fault.

Who cares?

Behavioral Psychologist B. F. Skinner's learning theory states that a person is exposed to a stimulus, which evokes a response, and then the response is reinforced. This leads to human behavior conditioning. One learns apathy or its opposite, empathy, through life experiences. However, two humans may experience the exact same life events where one becomes apathetic and the other empathetic, suggesting that beyond stimuli, response, and reinforcement there are other factors that play a role, including external environmental influences and internal genetic makeup. Furthermore, brain chemistry also plays an important role. History has shown that the successful rise of totalitarian regimes mandates the radical indifference of the societal majority, and in such instances, easy access to chemical mind-numbing agents such as drugs and alcohol becomes necessary for the success of their mission.

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” – Elie Wiesel

The most severe acts of evil perpetrated upon humanity were facilitated by the indifferent. Indifference creates a prison from which even the indifferent cannot escape upon awakening. Cure: The cure to Perilous Indifference is Radical Empathy. Simple.

Russian Proverb:

ученость — свет, а неученость — тьма

“To Learn is Light, and Ignorance is Darkness.”