A Statistic

"The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic."

The source of this quote is not definitively known, but it is often attributed to Joseph Stalin. Regardless of who said it, I find it as powerful as it is provocative. We are all too frequently bombarded with endless, awful, mind-boggling statistics. But most of them don't really make us feel – at least to a deep, personal level.

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.24 million deaths resulted from automobile accidents and incidents in 2010 (source). According to the Ascend Aviation Consultancy Team, 828 deaths resulted from aviation accidents and incidents that same year. Ascend's director wrote that "2010 was a disappointing year from the point of view of both safety and insurance with the number of fatal accidents and passenger fatalities both up on recent years" (source). However, place those 828 deaths right next to the staggering 1,240,000 deaths from automobiles – suddenly, flying doesn't seem so bad. However, how do you feel about these deaths (or, how do you feel about these statistics). Do they make you unhappy? Sure. Upset? Maybe. Did it cross your mind, perchance, that "828 doesn't seem that much at all"? Will you spend the rest of your day thinking about these deaths? Should you spend the rest of your day thinking about them?

Every life is a story, with its own characters, conflicts, themes, relationships, resolutions. Moreover, all of those characters have their own, individual stories as well. When one life ends, the story continues through the stories of others: those who knew the deceased – the survivors, if you will – might, for a time, be left to mourn, to remember, and to accept. Indeed, when one life ends, it is a tragedy. But when millions die, the stories of even greater millions – all the survivors – are also changed forever. However, to each of those survivors, it was just one person: the person that they knew and loved. Why should they give any consideration to the million others who died in the exact same way? After all, the death of millions is just a statistic.