An Observer's Mentality

Last night at the San Francisco International Film Festival I watched the new film by director Eran Kolirin of Israel, "The Exchange". It was a fascinating exploration of the voyeuristic aspect of human nature, and how we enjoy observing what happens to other people in a detached way. It is evident in everything from reality TV, to popular entertainment, to youtube videos, to the daily news. If we can watch any piece of the human experience, whether it be humor, love, eroticism, violence, or suffering, and feel detached from the subject, then we can feel the emotions that arise, such as joy, pain, excitement, disgust, or outrage, without feeling accountable or responsible in any way. What the film cleverly examines is what it would look like to bring that level of observing detachment into the personal life of the protagonist. As viewers, and naturally also as voyeurs ourselves, we are disturbed and fascinated by how he can behave in this manner with friends, colleagues, and his lover. These are people he is attached to, that he cares about, so how can he act in this detached manner?

By demonstrating how absurd it would be for a person to act in this manner towards those within his or her sphere of influence, the director brings up interesting questions about what responsibility we have to those outside of that sphere. There is no denying that this observer's mentality is a part of human nature and is in no way an unnatural phenomenon. So we cannot ask nor expect people to care enough about the problems of the world and the suffering of those in other countries to act simply by seeing a story on the news or reading about it on a website. A critical necessity for the pleasure of indulging in this voyeuristic part of our nature is detachment, so if the issue remains outside of their sphere of influence, they will not feel responsible to act. So to engage people, rather than try and convince them to care about something that is outside of their sphere, we must instead bring that something inside of their sphere.

What this is all leading up to is the big question: how do we bring local community issues from around the globe into the average Westerner's sphere of influence? Well the obvious best answer is direct experience. If you go overseas to a local community in a developing country and live and work with the people, it will become personal, no question. The people will enter your sphere and you will act to help them solve the problem at hand. Of course, not everyone can or will volunteer abroad and get this kind of direct experience. What is the next best thing? Someone already in your sphere of influence goes and has the experience and brings it back to share with you. But this relies on the storytelling ability of the person who had the experience and their level of commitment to selling it to you. In order to connect with their experience and make it personal for you, they have to show you their passion and commitment. What about after that? If we get to a friend of a friend, it is like a copy of a copy, and it becomes less clear and harder to become invested.

So what is the solution? How do we encourage everyone to feel responsible and accountable for the problems of the world that affect us all, whether we can see it clearly or not? First, I believe that anyone who volunteers in a developing country has a responsibility to tell their story to others and share that experience for the benefit of everyone. Second, I believe that volunteers should be trained and educated on how to tell their story so it is more effective, relevant, and compelling. Finally, I believe that volunteers should be given the tools to tell their story easily, widely, and in a variety of ways. If we begin to carry out these three steps and make every volunteer a messenger, the conversation will be raised, more people will feel accountable, and there will be a higher level of cross-cultural communication and understanding. We are all connected, all attached in the future of this world and humanity. We cannot afford to continue to be observers and to feel detached from those outside of our personal sphere.