The CGO was excited to attend a talk on  “Numbers and Nerves: Addressing the Arithmetic of Compassion and the World’s Most Urgent Issues” by Paul Slovic (Professor Psychology at UO and President of Decision Research) and Scott Slovic (Professor of Literature and Environment in the Department of English at the University of Idaho). The talk, which was held in association with the Global Justice Initiative, explored how information about political, economic, and environmental crises is presented and perceived, from the current refugee crisis in Europe, to climate change, to genocide, and more. Our inability to comprehend the numbers of people involved in these crises and our desire to avoid dealing with their suffering limits our response; yet when we hear the stories of individuals we tend to feel more compassion and are more likely to act. The Slovics explore this contradiction in their new book, and the CGO was invited to engage the authors in Q & A after their remarks to a standing room only crowd in the Knight Library.  Carnegies impressed the authors and the audience with their insightful and probing questions.

CGO members Anisha Adke (’18), Namratha Somayajula (’17), Keene Corbin (’18), and Nina Greene (’17) with authors Paul and Scott Slovic