The Arithmetic of Compassion

Empathy is often tied to shared experience. But what if resemblance is enough? Discover how this photographer pairs strangers who look almost identical. bit.ly/4lKwIEe

Toni is a 52-year-old gorilla in a zoo in Ukraine. He lies on his back and watches television. Outside, missiles hit energy plants. Inside, someone feeds the stove at midnight. Even in hard times, protecting others gives us hope. bit.ly/4kUxJJp

Watching A House of Dynamite, you realize the danger isn’t only nuclear weapons. It’s how decision options about them are framed under extreme pressure, in minutes, and handed to a president who has not been trained how to think about them wisely. 🔗bit.ly/3O0AFrA

A false accusation. A teenage mistake. An old debt that no longer exists. Online, these moments don’t fade. Our systems remember long after people have changed. Why the Right to Be Forgotten matters: bit.ly/3NJqjw5

When the internet goes dark, abuse becomes easier to hide. This piece looks at Internet shutdowns and the fragile channels keeping the outside world informed. bit.ly/4bF8NCQ

Numbing isn’t broken by more headlines. It’s broken by presence. Eating together forces presence: smell, taste, stories, eye contact. That’s why food shows up again and again in peace-building efforts. 🔗 bit.ly/49akH6g

We struggle to respond to large-scale atrocities. We respond differently when we hear one person’s story. This post connects Nicholas Kristof’s reporting with survivor testimonies — and why singular lives change how we care. 🔗 bit.ly/4prZ3zd

What happens when the world asks us to carry more suffering than we feel able to handle? Joanna helped us understand why we grow numb — and how we can come back. A tribute to Joanna Macy (1929–2025). bit.ly/3YMvvRU

Biology limits how much suffering we can process. Culture decides whose suffering matters. Large-scale indifference emerges when those two align. bit.ly/3MQUX6f

In Timor-Leste, the deadliest risk isn’t a storm or a tsunami — it’s crocodile attacks. The challenge? Crocodiles are also sacred ancestors. How do you talk about danger when the “threat” is part of who people are? 🔗Read more: bit.ly/3KCvTyV

Most ocean damage is invisible. But the shoreline doesn’t lie. Every tide brings fragments of our consumption, our disasters, our history — right to our feet. If we want to protect the ocean, we have to start by seeing it. 🔗 Read the full article: bit.ly/3Mr5uEK

When we light up the night, we turn off the stars. In Chile’s Atacama, people are fighting to save one of the darkest skies on Earth. Learn more 🔗 bit.ly/3XhSvHI

We chose six moments to capture Jane Goodall’s extraordinary life and work. Each moment reflects the same truth: hope is not naïve — it is a discipline, and the antidote to numbness in the face of crisis. Read the full article here arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/10/3…

Prince warned us: “The prize is the soul.” Today, teens and experts agree — the new luxury isn’t online, it’s time offline. 👉 Is being unplugged the real power move of the 21st century? Read More arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/9/5/…

🇦🇷✨ At 4 a.m., 50,000 Argentines weren’t watching soccer—they were watching a starfish. A deep-sea mission turned into a national craze. 🌊🦑 Read the full article: arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/8/15…

From August 6–9, 1945, Hiroshima and Nagasaki endured unimaginable loss. Eighty years later, art still cuts through the numbness, reminding us that behind every number was a life. arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/8/5/…

"Pikas only fall when people drop them." This week marks 80 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Pianist Makiko Hirata shares a powerful reflection on memory, music, and the ripple effect of peace. Read Makiko’s reflection here: musicalmakiko.com/en/healing-pow…

Check what's inside the newsletter this month: climate jokes, unfriendly benches, and why we feel more for puppies than people. Turns out, what makes us laugh might also show us what—and who—we care about. Explore these perspectives with us. arithmeticofcompassion.org/newsletter

Why do we feel more for one person than for millions? Photographer @lisakristine invites us to see what we usually don’t: the human face behind mass suffering. Her portraits break through #psychicnumbing—helping us feel, care, and act. arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/7/1/…

Why do we care more about one rescued animal than thousands suffering out of sight? This isn’t just a flaw in feeling — it’s a pattern we can change. From #psychicnumbing to intentional compassion, here’s how to take action beyond the headlines. arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/6/24…