You're walking down a busy city block-- maybe even just a sidewalk in your small hometown-- and you see a young woman crying in front of you. It's the real kind of crying: shoulders heaving, makeup smudging, voice cracking. She's miserable. Nine times out of ten, you eye the girl with a certain wariness and a hint of curiosity, then turn down your head and keep walking, eyes set on the sidewalk. That one time out of ten, you ask her what's wrong. Maybe you silently pass a tissue and continue on with your day. But that's a rare, single moment. The majority of the time, the girl goes on completely ignored-- even judged-- while her shoulders are still heaving and her makeup is still smudging.

Humans have a certain inability to empathize with strangers. Some cannot even connect with their so-called best friends. We are quick to criticize and judge and slow to try and understand. We are defined by our "nine times out of ten" responses to situations, but we also don't try to be that one, exceptional person out of a million.

In psychology, this characteristic flaw of human nature is referred to as the fundamental attribution error. If a person sees an angry man, he or she will attribute the man’s anger to his personality, rather than attributing it to a possible situation the man might be in to cause the anger that he’s expressing. In other words, we would assume the man is just naturally angry, or maybe even “crazy,” instead of considering the possibility that something could have happened in the man’s life that would cause the anger he's displaying. There's a lack of understanding between people, where everybody automatically assumes the worst and avoids situations instead of trying to reach a shared perspective.

Essentially, we don't see people as other people.

When you act out while in the middle of a tough situation, you don't assume your own personality to be permanently angry or crazy; your anger or craze is situational, it’s attributable to something else. It's easy to recognize your own feelings as a cause for your actions, but for some reason, that same thought process fails when applied to others. And why is that?

In our newly connected world there appears to be a distinct and palpable disconnect between people. While we all sit and type away behind screens, a thin veil seems to be placed between each person. As time pushes on and technology advances, simple connection between people is becoming more and more impossible in the new this new world of possibility. Connection, which might be the most basic human need next to food or water, is lost. People don't talk on trains anymore; they plug in their earbuds and zone out. Rarely does anyone start discussion on the street; everybody is on their phones.

As technology moves forward, the number of people going into fields such as the sciences, mathematics and engineering grows more and more each and every day. Meanwhile, majors such as history or English or art history are left in the dust. But these disciplines-- the humanities-- examine the impact of human achievement, and to study these concentrations requires a certain degree of empathy that many lack in this day and age. This is not to say that involvement in science and math is not important-- of course it is-- but a respect for the liberal arts field is also necessary.

History, for instance, is seen by many as the most boring subject there is to study. History majors (along with most other humanities) are constantly warned of the perils of studying it: no money, no jobs. For many, there is a lack of respect and high regard. But history is shaped by people, and the decisions those people make-- it’s not so much names and dates that you have to memorize as much as it is understanding other human beings.

George Washington is a household name that is force fed to kindergarteners to memorize. And what is he known as? The first president of the United States. The guy on the one dollar bill. In actuality, George Washington was a man, a General of the Continental Army that decided to fight in the revolution for America despite his wealthy status-- Washington wasn’t paid to be a General. He had every reason to not fight, but he did. George Washington was a man that risked his life daily even though he could have lived a long life with his wife on a large estate, comfortable and safe. George Washington was a man that risked everything he had for the fate of America; he was the one that decided to cross the Delaware on that frigid Christmas night in the 18th century, he was the one that led every man to victory.

But now imagine his thought process every day-- the fear, the anxiety, the fatigue. George Washington was the go-to man in charge. Every failure of the Continental Army would fall back on him. He felt responsible for each death of every soldier that fell on the way to revolution. George Washington was Atlas, carrying the weight of the world and the sky on his shoulders, never allowing anyone to take on the weight with him. He spent the majority of his life serving America, as General, as President, as a soldier. George Washington is not a name to memorize, but a name to respect and revere, for without his leadership, who knows where America would be today, or if it would even exist? A respect must be held for an ability to naturally see names as people, to be willing to explore humanity with all its good and bad.

As a society, we must actively try to see other people as people. Everybody has feelings, everybody has their own stories-- their own heartaches and joys-- that we may never know. But while technology seems to be building a barricade to separate us from each other, it is becoming necessary to try and consider other people and the feelings that they have. When you see a man angry on the street, hope that whatever he’s going through gets better. When you see that girl crying, go and ask her what’s wrong. See other people for what they are: human. And be that one out of ten.