Heroes

I decided to try using super heroes to explore the empathy and the just world hypothesis. I wanted to show the super heroes reacting effects that fiction can have on the reader, effects that the stories they are part of increase. to explore empathy I illustrated a super hero feeling empathy for someone in trouble and experiencing empathic distress taking on the mental state of the other person, I wanted to communicate that this would make the hero unable to help them, they would be able to offer some comfort but would not be able to stay disinterested and level headed in order to logically address the situation. I also made an illustration showing a super hero using empathy to decide who to help between on person in trouble who they know and a large group that they don't. The super hero feels empathy for the single person and chooses them over the large group. The third illustration shows the superhero relaxing at home when his phone rings with an emergency, he decides that the people in trouble must have done something wrong to be in the situation they are in so doesn't respond. I liked the idea of the super heroes reacting to they beliefs portrayed in fiction as if they are reacting to themselves, rendering them useless. They represent the writers of fiction who like them are aiming to do good, to promote moral beliefs without knowing the negative effects of their methods.