Someone living in a wealthy western culture is more likely to identify with others the same.
A bit OT but we’re all far more likely to become a refugee than a billionaire. Maybe it’s a good empathy test to think whether we identify with someone that wealthy any more or less than someone with nothing, escaping a war zone and unsure where they’ll end up in life.
I think we all fear death and that’s where we should be able to empathise with people in this situation. Tbh it’s the sub tech and the interest in the expedition that got me here but the idea they might all die, so publicly too, it’s not good.
I think it’s tragic in the case of the 500 migrants in Greece who were desperate. In the case of a wealthy explorer in the ocean or Everest.. not sure how to put it or what the point is, but they’ve had the opportunity to do and see so much in life, they died doing something they loved. It’s sad, just different.
A flood in a suburb/town in australia tugs at our heartstrings more than one a mountain village in central asia, because we can identify with it.
Don’t agree personally as it’s not about identifying with people, it’s empathy and I think there’s a difference there? Maybe not, just semantics. I think you’re right about why the media latch onto one more than the other though.