Why are people so apathetic?

Answer 1

It has nothing to do with other people's condescending beliefs in mythical characters. The reason so many people are becoming apathetic can be found in:

how this most recent adult generation was raised,

reality TV

impersonal conveniences

internet culture

divisive politics

The bulk of the new crop of adults were raised with diminishing the importance of winner/loser, negotiating behavior and "time outs". The parents who raised them listened to experts who were everywhere in the 90s telling them to do it. Even children's games were altered to diminish the importance of winning so as not to make the losing team not feel bad. "What's the point?" and "No consequences" is what these kids learned. In rowdy times when kids would act up as kids do, parents began negotiating with them instead of laying down the law. Suddenly one would find themselves in a grocery store with other people's children running amok and the parent didn't seem to care, take time to scold the kids or anything--and now these children are adults who don't know consequences. They didn't see their friends have many consequences either. Parents became enamored with the idea that having children didn't have to mean they had to lose themselves, which is just fancy talk for self-interested. Now parents have an inflated sense of their family's importance as they move about in society: family car stickers, "My kid is an honor student..."/"My kid beat up your honor student", teachers who can do no right, parents angry that schools request participation, "Hey! This may be a grocery store, but how dare you tell my children to behave!" Etc.

Prime the scene with some reality TV, a smorgasbord of Self-Interest How-To. When reality TV first started, it came out with a huge following with immediate faux celebrities, water-cooler talk and ruthless game play. Though reality television is now a niche with particular followers, the damage was done.

Time the above with the convergence with a sudden mass usage of impersonal conveniences. The young people (raised to think "I am a winner without even trying"), the self-interested parents, reality ME! ME! ME!, and the unknown for how mass conveniences will play out on the future, people have become increasingly less inclined to care about anyone but themselves. Cell phones that text, organize, surf the net, navigate the roads, answer inane questions--people are wrapped up with their little personal assistant devices. Even talking to someone you know is not by voice anymore. Standing in a room full of people is not incentive enough to have basic manners since there is something more interested going on in a tiny little bit of plastic at arm's length.

"Fake it till you make it" and "Look out for number one" and "In it to win it!" are unspoken rules to live by for many people. Go to any grocery store or mega hardware store and notice all the shopping carts left in the middle of parking spots just a dozen feet away from a cart corral: "Meh, it's not my job." It used to be that if a stop sign or light was not up to standards, you'd go to City Hall and pitch in as is a citizen's responsibility to enact change. Now, it's "not my job" and "I don't want to look like I care."

Finally, internet culture. When people first took to the internet, they were online with their natural personalities. However, there were those who have a natural tendency to bully and cause trouble for others. People had to grow thick skins, which can be a good thing but it has jaded and desensitized the masses of people. It has carried over into daily life. Showing you care about anything enough to get fired up garners reactions such as, "Don't let it bother you." or "It's not worth being upset about." And this subtext of defeat often works. "I don't want to look weak, so I will show I don't care." However, one often has to first be bothered in order to notice a need for improvement. Remember the City Hall example above. No bother is shown, no improvements are made.

Lump all the above in with the new culture of bully politics and hyper-religiosity you have a society full of apathetic people.

There is an easy way to test for modern apathy: For instance, it used to be slower traffic kept to the right, passing on the left, with the occasional self-absorbed person hogging it up making everyone frustrated. Now most people are spread out on the road blocking the entire way, every day, talking on the cell, texting or more worried about what is occurring inside the vehicle rather than the dangerous traffic all around.

The test: If you agree--no matter what your driving style is--you are likely not apathetic. If you disagree or are instantly inclined to call names or insist anyone who wants to pass (even safely!) must be a jerk who wants to control everyone (despite the road hogs actually holding dangerous control), then you are apathetic.

Another test (which really only tests for probable non-apathy): If at any point you thought, "TL;DR" you are apathetic.

Answer

There are also other reasons people can be apathetic and here are some:

• Depression (it can be genetic)
• A disease
• Virus
• Many medications can make a person very apathetic.

Some people also mix up apathy with simply been very worn out from being over-worked, shift work, personal problems, losing a loved one. Faith certainly does help one get through these things, but the reality of it is that it's always a good idea to see your doctor to find out if the thyroid is working well; a blood work-up, etc., and to seek counseling if one feels depressed.

....

Why do so so many people insist that God is who they choose him to be, with laws that they choose for him to make? This answer is the same answer to your question. People are self consumed with a desire to answer to no one higher, not even their very creator, so they just don't care about anything unless it can make them look good or make them feel good about themselves, Not, I repeat NOT because Jesus says it is good and right in God's eyes. So, When all of the self options are no longer attractive, People are apathetic, they just don't care.

Answer

Simple. They are too self-absorbed. They need to look at the big picture and realize they are just one little ant in a giant antbed.