“Are We Leaving the Individual Behind? The Role of Animal Storytelling in the Animal Rights Movement” by Ronen Bar

The identifiable victim effect is a psychological phenomenon that describes how people are more likely to offer help or feel empathy when presented with a specific, identifiable individual in need, rather than a larger, anonymous group. When victims are given names, faces, or personal stories, it becomes easier for them to relate. People are more likely to help a specific, identifiable individual in need Studies have shown that this is also the case for farmed animals, and that this effect can be limited to a single-identifiable victim (i.e., the singularity effect, the phenomenon where people are more motivated to help a single victim than a group of victims, even when the group is small). Identifying a victim can be seen as a solution to scope insensitivity; people undervalue the scale of a problem when presented with statistics. That insight is the basis of storytelling—showing individuals turns numbers into faces [...] ---Outline:(02:57) What is a Story?(05:01) Language Hides the Animal's Story(06:46) How Can We Tell Individual Stories?(08:29) The Camera On Animal Tool(09:37) The Story of Tom(11:17) Possible Objections to Individual-Focused Advocacy(12:05) Open Questions Regarding Animal Storytelling(12:39) ConclusionThe original text contained 3 images which were described by AI. --- First published: August 18th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/kzJBgcYhzBF6ZP9JH/are-we-leaving-the-individual-behind-the-role-of-animal --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.