Sentences: Degrees of summation
A man died.
A 22 year old man died.
A 22 year old man died in San Jose.
A 22 year old man died yesterday in San Jose.
A 22 year old man died yesterday morning in San Jose.
A 22 year old man died yesterday morning in his hometown of San Jose.
A 22 year old man died yesterday morning in his hometown of San Jose while riding the bus.
A 22 year old man died yesterday morning in his hometown of San Jose while riding the bus. He was shot.
A 22 year old man died yesterday morning in his hometown of San Jose while riding the bus. He was shot as he was protecting a woman.
A 22 year old man died yesterday morning in his hometown of San Jose while riding the bus. He was shot as he was protecting a woman and her child.
A 22 year old man died yesterday morning in his hometown of San Jose while riding the bus. He was shot as he was protecting a woman and her child from an armed robber.
the level of detail intensifies the amount of sympathy one feels for another. the more you know, the more you feel. for anyone who’s never met this man, those two sentences ARE this man. and if you feel sympathetic towards these two sentences, imagine what its like to have thousands of sentences in your mind. thousands of sentences about a person, millions even. images and memories of that person, not just words on a page. imagine that level of detail, and you can begin to imagine the pain. but it is not the pain we live for, nor our two sentences of sympathy. think less of what you’d die for and more of what you’d live for, and you’ll find it easier to distinguish sentences from people.
A man died.