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Wed7pm  ·  4836 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Statistical numbing: Why millions can die and we don't care
In case you can see this update, thenewgreen, and in case it's relevant to your work : here's another Psychology Today post about the same topic, but this one focuses on emotions rather than statistics:

... these studies suggest that the collapse of compassion happens because when people see multiple victims, it is a signal that they ought to rein in their emotions. The alternative might seem too difficult. It also suggests a way that the collapse of compassion might be prevented. Anything that encourages people to accept their emotions, rather than suppressing them, might reduce the collapse.

- Keith Payne, "Why is the death of one million a statistic?" 14 March 2010 http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-autopilot/201003/wh...