Losing empathy or our theory of mind

I'm a big Haikyuu!! fan and when this popped up on my feed I was vexed.

There was nothing even remotely confusing about the Tsukishima brother's conflict - it's part of one of the best and multi-season subplots of the show. Tsukishima Kei isn't on my favorite character list, but I have to admit his character arc is well-earned. And the post, I think, signals to a larger problem.

I've seen articles about Netflix shows pumping up the exposition to account for people using their phones while they watch. Or YouTube videos discussing the over-explanation of a characters emotional reactions in newer fiction, particularly from younger authors.

I don't think these are stylistic choices, per se, but fundamental differences in how people are perceiving others as beings like themselves. It's not merely a loss of empathy, but a disruption of what's left of our collective theory of mind.

Maybe it's the constant feed of a billionaire class that seems to have no concept of other people as anything but a resource. Or an administration that not only lacks empathy but revels in cruelty (arguably most of that collective imperial cruelty was already there, under the surface, let's be honest.)

The more we interact with other people on a two-dimensional screen the more we flatten any notion of these face-shaped images belonging to someone with feelings, thoughts, and beliefs. And in fact, it's getting hard to tell which of these faces are real.

So why attribute feelings to any of them?

Tsukishima Kei merely needed to discover his love of volleyball. Disappointed in his brother's understandable fibbing about his own team status, Tsukki still plays the sport just without enthusiasm or a desire to improve. "It's just a club," is his mantra. But with practice, encouragement, and the annoyance of his teammates, he is infected with their desire to get stronger, jump higher, and stay on the court for as along as possible. He changes because he recognizes (even if he doesn't always vibe with) the desires of those around him.

Some of us are leaning into that , but as a whole, we are not longer actively developing the main virtue that storytelling offers: empathy.

We are losing so much of our humanity that we no longer recognize it in anyone else.