1. Paul Bloom’s essay “Is Empathy Overrated” describes Bloom’s opinion on empathy and how it is not as effective as we think it might be for our communities. Bloom argues that “empathy is like a spotlight directing attention and aid to where it is needed” (Bloom 1).
   He then goes on to give examples of how this comes into play in real-world situations. He claims that, “it’s far easier to empathize with those who are close to us, those who are similar to us, and those we see as more attractive or vulnerable and less scary” (Bloom 2). Bloom shows this through the Sandy Hook shooting and uses this example to evoke an emotional reaction from the reader, describing how horrible the event was, but then slaps the audience in the face with a statistic, that “the toll from these mass shootings equals about one-tenth of 1 percent of American homicides”, and Bloom does this a lot during his argument. He evokes an emotional reaction out of you as the reader, only to hit you with a statistical example that makes your emotions for this one example seem unjust to the enormous amount of other things going on (Bloom 2). This is exactly what Bloom does with the Sandy Hook example. 

Furthermore, Bloom goes on to talk about another flaw with empathy: rather than the spotlight, the fact that we don’t have enough empathy for others. Bloom goes on to say that, “we should empathize with the children and families of Newtown, but we should also empathize with the children and families of Chicago. While we are at it, we should empathize with billions of other people around the world…” (Bloom 3). Bloom continues to use examples to prove his point while appealing to the emotions of the reader and then shooting them down with statistics. He finally finishes, but admitting that he is not against empathy, he just believes that the negatives outweigh the positives and that there are better ways as a society to show we care (Bloom 4). 

2. I agree with Bloom’s main arguments to an extent. I agree that empathy can be used to shine a spotlight on certain groups and or people we believe are more important. I also agree that as a society, we have become numb to mass shootings as a whole. Specifically, now, after Sandy Hook, when it seems a new mass shooting happens every day, and no one bats an eye. However, I don’t believe that empathy is this tool that is going to solve all these issues, and I think Bloom is putting too much weight on a valid human emotion and experience. A person feeling empathic for a school shooting isn’t going to fix the very big and real problem we have, but that doesn’t mean that that person is wrong or a bigot for feeling upset. I think Bloom puts too much weight on empathy and is trying to point out or address a bigger issue under the guise of empathy. 
3. Bloom does challenge my initial understanding of empathy, and I agree with certain points that he makes. But he has not really altered my perception of empathy to a larger extent. His essay has just made me dissect the things as a society that we deem important. 
4. The one claim in Bloom’s essay that invoked a strong response from me was when referring to empathy as a spotlight; he said, “a spotlight only illuminates what they are pointed at, so empathy reflects our biases” (Bloom 2). I can think of a lot of examples that illustrate this statement and this has to be the one statement I thoroughly agree with from Bloom’s essay. Take Charlie Kirk’s death for example; he was murdered at a college where he was exercising his right to free speech, spreading a lot of conservative right-wing Christian ideology. The outrage that sparked from this has been enormous, the President has spoken out, his funeral was huge, and the American people are up in arms for many reasons. Now, let’s look at the death of Minnesota congresswoman Melissa Hortman, who was murdered with her husband and dog in June of this year. There was not nearly as much outrage for the Hortman Family as there was for Charlie Kirk, who isn’t even a politician, member of the House, Senate, or Government. Both were deemed political assassinations, but only one got the spotlight. I believe this reflects the political biases in our country, as we can see the different reactions to the murder of a Democratic politician and a Republican leaning influencer. 
5. What are some more examples of our country, communities, or social media giving more light to one situation rather than another?