Re-Briefing

Todays re-briefing helped me a lot, I should have been suing studio as a reference when writing my essay draft. This time round I am going to stick more closely to the layout in the brief to make sure I cover everything I need. I don't think I did enough to show why my essay subject is relevant to my practice in the draft so that's something I am going to have to work on. I think working towards this template and adding in image analysis will help to motivate me as it feels like I am writing a new essay instead of rewriting the last one.

Ending

After all the research I have done and deciding how I will go about writing my essay I think my conclusion should be that it is unclear whether fictions effects on society since the invention of the printing press have been positive or negative, fiction has allowed us to extend the reach of empathy and provided us with a code of values in the form of the  'just world hypothesis'.  At best these cause us to behave altruistically and be what is commonly perceived as a 'good person' and at worst act a coping mechanism for individuals to deal with the chaotic nature of modern life. A coping mechanism that brings comfort and morality through a skewed perception of society. On numerous occasions throughout history governments and cultural leaders have feared the influence of fiction enough to attempt to ban it entirely. One thing that that seems clear is that fiction has had and still does have a huge effect on individuals and society as a whole. Works of fiction that challenge the societal norms have preceded major shifts political policy and social reforms. It is not clear whether these works were start of the changes or a reaction to the shifting views of the time but it is clear they acted as a catalyst for change. ?

not for concliusion.

Empathy as a coping mechanism could be hugely beneficial to an individual without any apparent negative effects, the problem is that if empathy informs decision making then our decisions will stem from a biased view, one that causes individuals to value one life over another or even one life over a vast number of lives because of some perceived connection.

New research 2

Oliver Burkeman Article

I have come across the just world hypothesis in my previous research, I found studies that suggest people who read or watch a large amount of fiction will have stronger beliefs in a 'just world' than people that don't. On the surface this looks like it could be a good thing, feeling that you live in a just world will encourage you to be kind and honest in the belief that you will be repaid for your actions, and in a sense you will. being kind will often illicit a similar response from another person. The problem with the 'just world hypothesis' is that if you believe we live in a just world even though facts and figures would suggest we don't then if you see someone in pain and suffering it is possible that you will assume that they must deserve their fate. I don't think there is any malicious intent in these thoughts but rather a need to make sense of the world around us. It is a scary thought that we could be living in a world where you can be the best you can be and still suffer because of it or that someone who acts in malicious, destructive ways can prosper but unfortunately we do. Neil Gaiman said that fiction provides us with tools and weapons to help us deal with our real lives and these findings would support that, the problem is trying to find out whether these tools are beneficial to society.

New Research

After submitting my essay draft and receiving my feedback I have struggled and lost enthusiasm fro my essay. It was strange because up until that point I was really enjoying my chosen subject and my research. I know I have to make changes to my essay question and I have a good idea of what I would like to change it to I just need to find the best way to communicate it. I decided to go back to research as a way to inspire me to start the process of adjusting my focus. My question will be about the effect of fiction on the development of empathy how this affects society. I have so far found a lot of studies and theorists that talk about the positive aspects of empathy and just how powerful fiction appears to be in terms of determining how we function as a society but I have found a few studies that make counter arguments. They are not against the concepts of empathy but that often effects we assume are positive have negative repercussions.

Paul Bloom

Paul Bloom has faced a bit of a backlash regarding his views on empathy because, as he puts it himself  “I’m against it.”  He acknowledges that being against empathy can seem as if you are against an array of positive human qualities such as compassion and kindness. He is not. He just believes that if you are trying to achieve the qualities then empathy is "a poor guide".

In this article he talks about many factors that would suggest that empathy is a good thing then goes on to point out his reasons for seeing it as a "it a poor guide to social policy". Blooms argument centres around the fact that empathy is biased, studies have shown that we show more empathy towards people that are similar to us in terms of ethnic or national background, we also sympathise more with attractive people. Another problem is that empathy is based around individuals, we care more about an individual that we can attribute some personal information than we do about 100 people. Are we capable of feeling empathy for a large number of people without knowledge of each individual.

Bloom goes on to say that because of these biases empathy has a negative effect on decisions that effect large numbers of people, such as political policy. If we use empathy to make these decisions we do not take into account that 100 lives are more important then 1 or that a life in a far off land is as important as your neighbour. making decisions that will benefit future generations would be very different if we removed empathy from the equation.

"Without empathy, we are better able to grasp the importance of vaccinating children and responding to climate change. These acts impose costs on real people in the here and now for the sake of abstract future benefits, so tackling them may require overriding empathetic responses that favor the comfort and well being of individuals today."

Bloom moves on from the idea of large scale social decision making to explore the effects of empathy for the individual. On the surface it would seem that empathy is entirely beneficial, helping us form relationships and function as part of a society. The problem comes when empathy starts to have a negative effect on the individual. woman have double the rates of depression than men and have also shown to have higher levels of empathy in studies by Helgeson and Fritz. The study by Helgeson and Fritz involved a questionnaire that contained questions such as “For me to be happy, I need others to be happy,” “I can’t say no when someone asks me for help,” and “I often worry about others’ problems.” . Although empathy triggers positive interactions and acts of kindness it can have a destructive effect on the individual in the long run. Barbara Oakley notes in Cold-Blooded Kindness (2011), “It’s surprising how many diseases and syndromes commonly seen in women seem to be related to women’s generally stronger empathy for and focus on others.” 

There is more information that I am going to come back to in this article, Blooms claims could act as a response to my previous research.

Against Empathy- Paul Bloom

Feedback

I just got the feedback from my essay draft and it was very useful. I made my draft by piecing together my research and arranging it into a format that I thought made sense. I then deleted certain sections of the text then added in paragraphs to connect the various elements. I need to go back to the beginning and build my essay based around a  more specific subject. I refined my essay as I went along in my research but have not changed the format of my essay enough so it is still too broad. I am going to start by writing my refined question and deciding which of areas relate to the question. I have relied too much on quotes from writers in areas of my essay and need to find more theorists. I need to make sure I provide arguments and counter arguments for each theory I include. I want to focus the impact fiction effect on empathy. At the moment it makes up the final part of my essay but I would like to refine my question to focus on this aspect. I have chosen to concentrate o9n this because I found it the most interesting and beneficial to my practice and there has been a lot of recent research into the subject. I have found a recent study that suggests empathy is not as beneficial as previous research suggests. This research could provide a useful counter argument to the rest of my research. I think that empathy's effect on society is relevant given current political changes in the UK and the US.