Our Obsession with Death

I have followed the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 closely since it went missing 16 days ago. It's understandable that the world is watching eagerly to discover the outcome for themselves, or lack there of. But what about this mystery has the necessary trigger for this obsession?

An article by Sally Cohn of CNN claims that "there's something about death in sudden, large numbers that grabs our attention." And I thought to myself, what else fits this thesis. In recent years, the Sandy Hook and Aurora movie theater shootings come to mind.

Media seems to become completely enveloped in mass death simply because it may, unfortunately, be more "entertaining" (I apologize if that sounds a bit harsh and I mean absolutely no disrespect). While the looming tragedy of flight 370 has not yet been discovered and has captured all angles of the public eye, death obviously has not ceased since then. According to Cohn's Opinionated article, on the same day the plane went missing, oer 20,000 people died worldwide from cancer, and in the days since, more than 1,000 people have likely died from drug related crimes. Cohn, along with myself, begs the question, "why don't we care about these tales of death?"

The reason lies within our own personal experiences. Evils such as disease and drug violence are familiar to all of us. They are on the news regularly, and have become an integral part to life in America. It's almost as if, because we are so well acquainted with them, we feel immune. We feel better prepared against such events. But a missing plane? A mass shooting in an elementary school? That's foreign.

The media can try to tell us all they want about deaths related to malnourishment, gun violence, and disease. But it will never capture world attention. Media craves mysteries, and once this one is solved (if it is), they will move on to something new.