The Concern Parabola

Plotting the parabolic path from passive to passionate to pertinacious

Jan 30, 2025

We all have our pet peeves and causes we champion, but let’s face it, some issues are like that weird “friend” you just can’t shake off—they linger way past their welcome. So, picture this: you’re at a party or your favorite online hangout, and there’s buzz about a new problem. Intrigued, you lean in. Then you go home and think about it. You start to care about this thing. After a while, you care so much it’s like you’ve adopted this issue as your own personal stray cat.

At this point you’ve hit what social scientists (or at least, me pretending to be one) call “peak caring.” This is the zenith of your concern, the Everest of empathy where you’re at your most passionate. But then, like all good things, the novelty wears off. People keep blabbing about it so much that you start to feel like you’re in a broken record session. Even though the issue might still be as real as your aching back, your care-o-meter dips with each mention.

Meanwhile, the media have latched on and are beating this issue like it’s a piñata at a kid’s birthday party, and eventually, you find yourself at the nadir if your concern, a point so low you couldn’t possibly care less if you tried. Your concern for this issue is so small you’d need an electron microscope to locate it.

Now, let’s talk math, because who doesn’t love a good equation to describe their emotional exhaustion? Welcome to the Concern Parabola, not to be confused with its algebraic cousins, the Hype Hyperbola or the Empathy Ellipse. The Concern Parabola is the perfect visual to show how enthusiasm for a cause rises like the Goodyear blimp on its way to the Daytona 500 only to deflate like a week-old party balloon.

To demonstrate, here are some examples of what’s starting to tip my care-o-meter and what’s falling down my slope of “meh, whatever.”