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ChristianKl comments on Open Thread May 30 - June 5, 2016 - Less Wrong
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Here's a little example of prisoner's dilemma that I just thought up, which shows how mass media might contribute to modern loneliness:
Let's assume that everyone has a fixed budget of attention and empathy. Empathizing with imaginary Harry Potter gives you 1 point of utility. Empathizing with your neighbor gives them 10 points of utility, but doesn't give you anything, because your neighbor isn't as interesting as Harry Potter. So everyone empathizes with Harry Potter instead of their neighbor, and everyone is lonely.
Does that sound right? What can society do to get out of that trap?
Consider how old and universal story-telling is. Humans felt empathy for fictional characters since forever.
I don't think most people understood Aesops fables to be about a real fox at the time they were written.
Citation, please?