Dissociation

I'm not sure if dissociation is really even a word.  I know it as a chemistry term, as the separation of positive and negative ions in a compound when dissolved in a (usually polar) solvent.  I do not know if it applies the same way to real-world ideas and things.  Regardless, I think I'm going to use this word because it works so well.  The thing is, I find that people and their ideas dissociate in my mind.

I know I've written on this topic before, but I've started thinking about it again lately.  Every person you see has an identity.  That's hard to remember sometimes, with so many people on the planet.  We have statistics thrown at us: X million dead because of AIDS, Y million killed in this-or-that war.  It's hard to see that many people as individuals, each with their own lives and families and concerns.

To a point, this indifference begins to manifest itself in our everyday lives with our acquaintances as well.  It's difficult when we are suffering from our own problems and crises to stop and remember the concerns of everyone around us, especially when they are so different from our own, so far-fetched.  Maybe that's just me though.  Maybe it's only because my brain is in a fog and I really can't think straight that I start separating people into two different entities.  I'm getting worn out again.  I might continue this when I'm less sick and more capable of thinking straight.  In any case, I'm out for now, back to imagining people dividing into separate things and related ramblings.  Good night.