"A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic" Joseph Stalin. Would you say this is true? Why?

Question

"A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic" Joseph Stalin. Would you say this is true? Why?

Answer 1

Yeah, it is true. Regrettably.



The human mind can not follow that many deaths at the same time. It becomes a statistic because all the mind can handle at that point is the numbers.



Let’s go with Iraq at the moment, but there are plenty of other examples. 60 people died in car bombings the other day. Do you know any of their names? But if one of Saddam’s defense lawyers gets knocked off, you hear enough details to know the person.



When I lived in Maryland just north of DC it was the same way. The Washington Post printed box scores. X many died, Y many wounded. There were so many killings you could not follow them all.



Traffic deaths on I-95 they did not even bother trying to report. They just talked about how long it took to commute home that night.



Regrettably Stalin is right on that one.



-Dio

Answer 2

I disagree with both parts. a million. "A unmarried lack of existence is a tragedy": it would not rely if it is one lack of existence or a million deaths, lack of existence itself isn't a tragedy because it truly is a organic procedure. it is component to the existence cycle. The circumstances of someone's lack of existence might want to be a tragedy yet even it fairly is arguable because there are too many various perspectives that can make it no longer a tragedy. 2. "a million deaths is a statistic": A statistic is a numerical volume of a few function in a pattern. The certainty would not outline the pattern so it isn't any longer a statistic. If he had suggested some thing like, "a million deaths in a city with a inhabitants of two million human beings is a statistic," then he might want to be actual because the certainty incorporates the pattern (i.e., a city with a inhabitants of two million human beings).

Answer 3

marilyn manson said that in one of his songs...i think it is true...a single death is a tragedy to one person, five people, a whole family...and every friend...

if you watch that on the news, you can see their pain and know individually what they feel, because they tell you.

a million deaths...if youre watching that on the news, they cant go to every person affected, which is a lot more...and ask for their pain, so they turn it into a statistic...ie, "thousands hurt today in landslide..." no names, no specifications...but in one or two deaths...its "tom and jane were killed, statements from family members..." so i totally think that is true..i guess that is the way the world works...

Answer 4

a trick question indeed. A tragedy can become a statistic. Eg: the 9/11 terrorist attacks was quite tragic and was a bleak statistic on people killed by terrorists.

Answer 5

He has a point. When a large group of people die, they tend to become grouped and staticised, as opposed to being individually recognized, which they deserve.