What happens when we stop seeing each other as human? Elif Shafak has spent years reading the stories of people who survived some of history’s darkest chapters — the Holocaust, civil wars, genocides. Over and over, she noticed a pattern. When survivors ask, “How could this have happened?” the answer usually isn’t, “Because there were so many evil people.” It’s because too many people stopped feeling. Most didn’t take part in the violence. But many looked away. Tuned it out. Told themselves, “It’s not my problem.” The danger we face today isn’t just from overt hatred — it’s from quiet disconnection. It creeps in when we stop imagining what life feels like for someone else. When we scroll past suffering because it’s too much. When we decide a struggle isn’t our responsibility. When apathy is just easier than empathy. But empathy is our strength. It’s how we resist indifference. How we protect our shared humanity. How we remember that history is shaped not only by what people do — bu...