The evocative power of literature, particularly through the diffusion of literacy and printing one hundred years ago, was the main vehicle for the sharing of different points of view for a very long time. It was finally possible to “leave” your village and “live” for a short time in the minds of others, whether these others were the characters or the authors themselves. The printed word was a veritable breeding ground for the expansion of empathy on a social level (now proven by science as well). Radio and television, opening us to multi-sensory perception, then increased our level of involvement. Then there came concepts like virtual reality and augmented reality that are literally capable of surrounding us.
Why we live in a “bubble”
For a number of years it has been clear that great part of our formation, in terms of science, literature, as well as that on an emotional level, is played out on the platform of the Web and the field of the social media. From a functional point of view, the potential for almost immediate access to information, the narrowing of distance, the quantity of data and the available sources is without historical precedence. On the other hand, the same technological, data and media experts have warned us about the limitations of these technologies.
In venturing through the social networks, we often promote the creation of a “space” in which the ideas we exchange are substantially subject to confirmation. We just have to think about an on-line group in which people share the common denominator of political ideas, approaches or opinions.
It is highly likely that this space ends up being “swelled” with information that is very similar, that in a certain sense is just an echo of other information resulting in a so-called echo chamber, the term coined for this phenomenon. The same algorithms of the platforms that in general direct us towards information in line with our preferences, works in this way to keep us inside our bubble (another term specific to the issue). Rarely are we exposed to alternative points of view.
What’s happened to empathy?
What is wrong with all this? This infrastructure encourages users to nourish themselves with content that reflect opinions that they already hold and in fact tends to polarise the aggregation of information and people. In this context, the effort to accept points of view that are different from your own, the capacity to discuss an issue, to open up to new perspectives and, if required, to walk in someone else’s shoes, is under threat. All of this heralds the end of debate.
The tools for a new start at school level
There is great scepticism on the potential to act effectively on this problem. Amongst those with ideas, there are those who suggest use of the same technology or the use of technology to educate and stimulate users to expand their prospective and opinions on certain issues, starting at school.
Tests are being conducted on tools that attempt to reinvent our online activity to render contact between navigators more human, in particular that with children. For example, the Outschool project brings together small groups of students and teachers in front of the screen. In video chat, they can put into play their shared interests in real time, so that online learning does not work against connection, including that on an emotional level. An attempt to apply online the same means of perceiving and living the school class, in this case when faced with new people who have completely different experiences from your own, or who perhaps live on the other side of the world.
Another important project, again in the scholastic context, is Newsela. A repository especially created so that students gain exposure to and converse on current, interesting and even controversial ideas that go beyond the classic textbook. In short, the teacher can call upon a minefield of discussion issues to promote the sharing of ideas in a manner as open and respectful as possible.
What about work?
For adults, there are even virtual reality systems that are designed to improve empathy, at the workplace for example. Perhaps the most famous example is Mursion, a specific platform for professional training that places the user in extremely realistic situations encountered during the working day. Situations such as a classroom of non-attentive children for a teacher, various types of patients for a nurse or an employee in front of the shift manager. The aim is to stimulate the user to develop useful skills to interact with others at the workplace more effectively and remember that we are just surrounded with other human beings like us.