#icebucketchallenge

An unusually topical post this one, but it raises some bigger issues beyond the momentary craze. I’ll begin with a personal confession, which is also a relatively unusual thing for this blog: I haven’t watched a single ice bucket challenge. And I don’t live under a rock or anything. I'm on the internet all the time, and I've seen dozens of different links every day for the last forever (or however long this thing has been going on now). So why? Well read on.

I can’t take away from the whole idea in terms of what it has achieved. A lot of money has been raised for a worthy cause and that is a good thing. But is this how we do it? Is this how human kindness to other humans works now? I think there’s something a bit disturbing about the ice bucket challenge and the extent to which it’s taken off.  In order to alleviate suffering, apparently someone else has to suffer, because other people find that amusing. That being the most successful basis for charity says something about us. And it’s not something good.

I've never liked watching people put themselves through challenges, ordeals etc. and although a bit of cold water is pretty minor as ordeals go, it is still someone doing something unpleasant to themselves as a public spectacle. I think most people would get the feeling I'm talking about if you made it something that was much more of an ordeal, like people whipping themselves on camera. It’s not the extent of the suffering and discomfort, it’s the choice to needlessly go through it, and it’s the fact that people are enjoying watching others do so.

Let’s look at the choice to go through it first (I’ll come to the audience’s response in a bit). I imagine that people going into the ice bucket challenge fall somewhere on a spectrum from dreading it but doing it under peer pressure, to looking forward to it because it’s an opportunity to show off. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, the reason to do it (and the reason I expect some people will say they actually end up enjoying it) seems to be overcoming the challenge. So it’s the fact that it’s unpleasant but that you go through it anyway that makes you feel braver, like you've achieved something, and like you've made a sacrifice for a greater good.

These are all admirable things to feel, and they are completely necessary in some experiences of suffering. If you jump into a lake to save someone from drowning, you will get all of these things from the suffering it costs you. But that is totally different because the suffering is directly necessary. In the case of the ice bucket challenge, it is utterly needless. In a world already packed full of needless suffering, adding to it even a jot seems like madness. If you really want to suffer to help someone else, volunteer with a charity to do actual work on the ground somewhere. (I realise that won’t work for ALS research unless you happen to be a highly specialised scientist, but there are plenty of other charities, e.g. homeless charities, where practically anyone can make a difference).

Why don’t people put their suffering/minor discomfort to better use in these ways? Because their mates wouldn't gather round to laugh at them. It wouldn't be a spectacle. I'm not going to condemn the arrogance there; I think most people like being centre of attention in a positive way sometimes, and that doesn't seem inherently bad. It’s what they become centre of attention for that I'm arguing against. So let’s come to why people choose to watch and enjoy someone – often someone they know and care about – chucking freezing cold water over their head.

The most common reaction I have heard from audiences is laughter. I don’t get it. That doesn't make it bad; there are lots of jokes I don’t think are funny that aren't thereby some kind of travesty. No-one made me the humour police. But the reason I don’t find it funny makes me find it a bit disturbing that others do. No-one laughed (quite rightly) when this puppy got dunked: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sick-ice-bucket-challenge-thugs-4095774 I realise it’s crucially different that the puppy has no choice and doesn't understand why it’s happening, but I'm not sure why those things should make it funnier when it’s a person. Go back to the analogy with whipping: Is someone whipping themselves funnier than someone whipping a puppy? No; they’re just nasty in different ways. This is way down on the scale of suffering, but I don’t see why it isn't in principle the same.

At first I was only mildly uncomfortable with this. I would rather not watch the videos than watch them, and others disagree. But as the campaign has snowballed, it has become progressively more disturbing. The public apparently has an insatiable thirst for this kind of stuff. I don’t think that paints a very good picture of us as a society. It’s a relatively minor thing in itself. So minor that the huge amount of money raised probably makes it worth it. But if we are the kind of people who like this so much, what else would we enjoy? Who are we that this is our idea of entertainment, and our most effective route to encouraging charity?

So if you have an urge to take on a bracing challenge and feel the warm glow of helping others, then good for you. Go out and challenge yourself by actually helping people, not by doing something trivial and needless. And if you want to make your mates laugh, also good for you. Tell them a funny joke. And if you want to watch something funny on YouTube, find a cat video or something. Stop watching ice bucket challenges. You’re getting hooked on the suffering of others, and however minor that suffering, that just isn't healthy.