Apathy is raging across the globe. I have heard people, specifically online, say this is an apathetic generation. This title, bestowed upon Gen Z, usually comes from older generations who see this generation as lazy, uninterested and unbothered. While it is true that people seem to only care about issues when they are directly affected, this isn’t a problem dependent on generations. This is the age of apathy, where we as people just stop caring. We as a society have become apathetic to issues we say aren’t worthy of our time.
First, we have to define what apathy is. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines apathy as a lack of feeling, emotions, lack of interest or concern or indifference. I think a simpler definition is not feeling like we have the energy or the capacity to take action on issues we care about.
We might feel strongly about issues but do nothing to enact change. This age is one of the most connected times in the sense that our technology makes it easy to talk to anyone, see what our friends are up to and see what is going on in the world around us. Yet we are disconnected once we take the screens away and enter the real world. I find myself often seeing something online that I feel passionately about, but with one swipe it is out of sight, therefore out of mind. I stop caring about the video and the issue it discusses once the funny cat video pops up. According to a study done by Dr. Gloria Mark at the University of California, an individual’s average attention span on an electronic device in 2024 was about 47 seconds.
“It makes me sad that because a crisis is far off or out of sight, we lose our sense of biblical justice,” said junior Aleena Polanco. She mentioned being a pastoral ministries major and the growing conviction in her life to lean into a biblical sense of justice. It is her goal to model for herself and those around her what it means to care for others. “Not just have the conviction, but live the conviction.”
The constant scrolling and consuming massive amounts of information cause us to be desensitized to violence and brutality seen in the world.
The American Brain Foundation says, “The experience can leave you feeling hopeless, helpless, cynical, or apathetic.”
We grow apathetic to the issues we see in the world. It’s easy to say we want change, but when it comes down to it, are we actually acting on it?
Having apathy towards small, mundane things might not seem like a big deal because we care about what we need to care about. The big things in life such as war, starvation and national politics are easier to talk about and easier to have an opinion on. Many people only vote in the presidential elections and not the local elections because the big elections are “easier.” Focusing on the small things — things most people overlook — can bring joy and meaning to everyday life.
A small thing that is often overlooked is picking up trash we find on the ground. It is easy to walk past and assume someone else will pick it up. After all, it wasn’t our trash littering the ground. According to an article published by Daily Express, a United Kingdom news publication, about half of adults admit to littering and only 14% admit to picking up litter they see on the ground.
This is a small yet impactful act that shows we care. Keep America Beautiful, a national nonprofit focused on litter prevention, found in a study that there are 35 billion pieces of litter on the ground. “That’s 96 pieces of litter for every American.” Imagine what would happen if we started acting like we cared about the planet enough to start picking up trash we see lying on the ground. It sounds simple, but the apathetic approach is to not care because it doesn’t directly impact us.
The age of apathy has tricked people into thinking we only need to care about ourselves. I see this on our own campus. Once those chapel credits are fulfilled, the chapel starts to look bare. We stop caring about events on campus, start skipping more and more classes and easily justify ourselves because we are tired and busy. While it is good and encouraged to take needed breaks, having an apathetic approach can seep into other elements of our lives.
Instead of staying detached, talk about things you want to see changed. Don’t sit passively. Care about the planet enough to pick a piece of trash off the ground. These types of acts don’t have to be big; they need to stem from a caring heart.
Make the change you want to see in this world. We need to have empathy, not apathy.
