We're all exposed to so much pain and suffering in the world by news reports that I think we build little walls as a defense mechanism, and only allow those things "in" that affect us directly.

If 200 people were to die in a fire in your town's movie theater you'd be more emotionally affected....perhaps you'd know some of them, or you would've seen them walking down the street, etc. By having a name/face behind the number of dead one is able to make a connection more intimately. The fact that 200 unknown strangers were killed halfway around the world makes it less personal, and therefore easier to dismiss.

You're not alone in these thoughts, Uzi.