The Arithmetic of Compassion

Keeping Toni Warm — The Arithmetic of Compassion How Kyiv Zoo staff protect Ukraine’s only gorilla during war-driven winter blackouts, and what this act of care reveals about human values in crisis.

Toni is a 52-year-old gorilla in a zoo in Ukraine.
He lies on his back and watches television.
Outside, missiles hit energy plants.
Inside, someone feeds the stove at midnight.
Even in hard times, protecting others gives us hope.
bit.ly/4kUxJJp

Charting a Path Beyond Nuclear Weapons — The Arithmetic of Compassion How nuclear decisions are shaped by framing, time pressure, and psychology. Analyzing A House of Dynamite through decision science and nuclear risk.

Watching A House of Dynamite, you realize the danger isn’t only nuclear weapons.
It’s how decision options about them are framed under extreme pressure, in minutes, and handed to a president who has not been trained how to think about them wisely.
🔗 bit.ly/3O0AFrA

The Right to Be Forgotten — The Arithmetic of Compassion The internet has a longer memory than people. This article explores the Right to Be Forgotten, examining how permanent digital records affect ordinary lives, where law draws the line between privacy a...

A false accusation. A teenage mistake. An old debt that no longer exists.

Online, these moments don’t fade.
Our systems remember long after people have changed.

Why the Right to Be Forgotten matters: bit.ly/3NJqjw5

Inside Iran’s Internet Shutdowns and Digital Resistance — The Arithmetic of Compassion Internet shutdowns are a powerful tool of repression. In Iran, blackout after blackout cuts visibility, not just connectivity. This article looks at how a few fragile connections — satellite internet,...

When the internet goes dark, abuse becomes easier to hide. This piece looks at Internet shutdowns and the fragile channels keeping the outside world informed.
bit.ly/4bF8NCQ

Would you invite the “enemy” to dinner? — The Arithmetic of Compassion An AOC article exploring how shared meals interrupt fear and psychological numbing, using real examples from history and community initiatives to show how food helps turn “enemies” back into people.

Numbing isn’t broken by more headlines.
It’s broken by presence.
Eating together forces presence: smell, taste, stories, eye contact.
That’s why food shows up again and again in peace-building efforts.
🔗 bit.ly/49akH6g

When Atrocities Become Background Noise — The Arithmetic of Compassion A short AoC reflection on why we look away from mass suffering — and how individual survivor testimonies, alongside Nicholas Kristof’s work, help break indifference and bring compassion back into focu...

We struggle to respond to large-scale atrocities.
We respond differently when we hear one person’s story.
This post connects Nicholas Kristof’s reporting with survivor testimonies — and why singular lives change how we care.
🔗 bit.ly/4prZ3zd

Joanna Macy and the Psychology of Looking Away — The Arithmetic of Compassion A tribute to Joanna Macy (1929–2025), reflecting on her observations of emotional withdrawal in times of crisis and her emphasis on connection, shared feeling, and action without guarantees.

What happens when the world asks us to carry more suffering than we feel able to handle?

Joanna helped us understand why we grow numb — and how we can come back.

A tribute to Joanna Macy (1929–2025).

bit.ly/3YMvvRU

Did Our Ancestors Feel Different Emotions—and What Does That Mean for Compassion at Scale? — The Arithmetic of Compassion What if emotions aren’t timeless? This article connects the history of emotions, behavioral science, and psychic numbing to rethink compassion at scale.

Biology limits how much suffering we can process.
Culture decides whose suffering matters.
Large-scale indifference emerges when those two align.
bit.ly/3MQUX6f

When the Threat Is Sacred: Understanding Crocodile Risk in Timor-Leste — The Arithmetic of Compassion Crocodile attacks are rising in Timor-Leste, but cultural beliefs make risk communication complex. Explore how tradition, psychology, and conservation intersect.

In Timor-Leste, the deadliest risk isn’t a storm or a tsunami — it’s crocodile attacks.
The challenge? Crocodiles are also sacred ancestors.
How do you talk about danger when the “threat” is part of who people are? 🔗Read more: bit.ly/3KCvTyV

Beachcombers of the Invisible Ocean — The Arithmetic of Compassion Most ocean damage is invisible, but shorelines make it visible. Each tide leaves evidence of pollution, disasters, and global connections. A simple walk on the beach shows what the ocean is carrying—a...

Most ocean damage is invisible. But the shoreline doesn’t lie.
Every tide brings fragments of our consumption, our disasters, our history — right to our feet.
If we want to protect the ocean, we have to start by seeing it.
🔗 Read the full article: bit.ly/3Mr5uEK

The Fight for Dark Skies in the Atacama — The Arithmetic of Compassion Chile’s Atacama Desert hosts some of the world’s most powerful observatories—and one of humanity’s last truly dark skies. As mining, cities, and satellites flood the night with light, astronomers and ...

When we light up the night, we turn off the stars.
In Chile’s Atacama, people are fighting to save one of the darkest skies on Earth 🔗 Learn more: bit.ly/3XhSvHI

Jane Goodall’s final lesson: hope is an antidote to numbness — The Arithmetic of Compassion Jane Goodall’s legacy unites science and compassion. Her final lesson: hope is an antidote to paralysis and despair in the face of global crises.

We chose six moments to capture Jane Goodall’s extraordinary life and work.

Each moment reflects the same truth: hope is not naïve — it is a discipline, and the antidote to numbness in the face of crisis.

Read the full article here
www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/10...

The Price Is the Soul? — The Arithmetic of Compassion Discover why NYC teens, doctors, and Yuval Noah Harari say logging off is the true power move—digital detox boosts focus, balance, and compassion.

Prince warned us: “The prize is the soul.”
Today, teens and experts agree — the new luxury isn’t online, it’s time offline.
👉 Is being unplugged the real power move of the 21st century?

Read more www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/9/...

Argentinian Scientists Turn the Deep Sea Into a National Conversation — The Arithmetic of Compassion Argentine scientists turned deep-sea research into a viral sensation, uniting thousands through discovery, memes, and national pride in ocean exploration.

🇦🇷✨ At 4 a.m., 50,000 Argentines weren’t watching soccer—they were watching a starfish.
A deep-sea mission turned into a national craze. 🌊🦑

www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/8/...

Art Against Forgetting: 80 Years After Hiroshima — The Arithmetic of Compassion By Nancy Nuñez and Emiliano Rodriguez Nuesch Eighty years is a long time. Long enough for memories to fade. Long enough for pain to turn into numbers. That’s why we need art. Because numbers don’t c...

From August 6–9, 1945, Hiroshima and Nagasaki endured unimaginable loss. Eighty years later, art still cuts through the numbness, reminding us that behind every number was a life.

www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/8/...

On the 80th Summer - "Dr. Pianist" Makiko Hirata DMA Let the power of music heal us all with Dr. Pianist, an international performer, teacher, writer, lecturer, and workshop facilitator.

"Pikas only fall when people drop them."

This week marks 80 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Pianist Makiko Hirata shares a powerful reflection on memory, music, and the ripple effect of peace.

Read Makiko’s reflection here: musicalmakiko.com/en/healing-p...

Check what's inside the newsletter this month: climate jokes, unfriendly benches, and why we feel more for puppies than people. Turns out, what makes us laugh might also show us what—and who—we care about.

Explore these perspectives with us: www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/newsletter

Seeing What We Usually Don’t: Lisa Kristine and the Power of One Photo — The Arithmetic of Compassion Lisa Kristine’s photos reveal the human cost of forced labor. Learn how one portrait can break through compassion fatigue and move us to care—and act.

Why do we feel more for one than for millions?

Photographer @lisakristinephoto.bsky.social shows us what we often miss: the human face behind mass suffering. Her portraits cut through psychic numbing—helping us feel, care, and act.

Using Animal Compassion to Understand Why We Struggle to Care at Scale — The Arithmetic of Compassion Explore how recognizing compassion limits can guide intentional care for animals, beyond headlines, through daily action and trusted global organizations.

Why do we care more about one rescued animal than thousands suffering out of sight? This isn’t just a flaw in feeling — it’s a pattern we can change.

From psychic numbing to intentional compassion,
here’s how to take action beyond the headlines.

www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/6/...

How Climate Change Memes Help Us Understand Our Compassion Gap — The Arithmetic of Compassion Climate change memes use humor and emotion to help us feel, understand, and respond to the crisis when facts alone aren't enough.

Why do climate memes hit so hard?
They tap into irony and shared frustration — helping us feel something when the crisis feels too big to face.

How humor can bridge our compassion gap? Read the full article here

From Climate to Gaza: How Greta Makes Us Care When It’s Easier Not To — The Arithmetic of Compassion Greta Thunberg shows how powerful stories can fight apathy. From climate to Gaza, she inspires real action when the world stops paying attention.

Recently, Greta Thunberg joined the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, shining a light on those trapped under blockade.

Some lives get seen, others don’t. Her message turns numbness into action.

Read more and find your role.

www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/6/...

Check what's inside the newsletter this month:
We reflect on Sebastião Salgado’s legacy of making suffering visible, revisit The Eternaut’s call for collective survival, and consider the Pope’s role in uncertain times.

Explore these perspectives with us: www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Once a month, we explore why we feel and act the way we do—and how understanding can lead to meaningful change.

Compassion begins with insight.

👉 www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/newsletter

The Eternaut: Only The Collective Can Survive — The Arithmetic of Compassion The Eternaut, Argentina’s iconic sci-fi graphic novel, comes to Netflix. A deadly snowfall, an alien invasion — and a message: no one survives alone.

What if the end of the world started… with snow?

Based on the iconic Argentine graphic novel The Eternaut, Netflix’s new series flips the script: the real hero isn’t one person — it’s the collective.

Read the full article here: www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/5/...

Sebastião Salgado: A Lens For Justice — The Arithmetic of Compassion Sebastião Salgado died at 81. His lens captured 20th-century tragedies and reminded us that real compassion begins with truly seeing others.

Remembering Sebastião Salgado — a photographer who goes beyond just pictures.

His black & white photography breaks through the numbness we sometimes feel and shows the powerful stories behind people and places.

Read our last article here www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/5/...

Empathy Is All Around; Just Look Closely — The Arithmetic of Compassion Through a personal exploration of sympathy, empathy, and compassion, this article shows how practicing empathy can become a powerful tool for confronting injustice and ecological crises.

Empathy is everywhere—you just have to look closely.

It shapes how we connect, what we choose, and what moves us. What stories spark empathy in you?

This one is told in the first person—do you relate?

Read the full article here: www.arithmeticofcompassion.org/blog/2025/5/...

Even in injustice, compassion can lead us forward. “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other… as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” – Nelson Mandela 
https://bit.ly/4iyjIhP

What if we celebrated kindness the way we celebrate intelligence? “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel 
https://bit.ly/4iyjIhP

Simple doesn’t mean small.“The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.” – Mahatma Gandhi
https://bit.ly/4iyjIhP

Simple, direct, transformative and actionable. “Compassion is a verb.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh
https://bit.ly/4iyjIhP