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Graphic medic can provoke distress even when viewers are physically safe.

Exposure to violent media can have a lasting impact.

Stay vigilant about what you watch.

The Pentagon announced plans to livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. His execution is scheduled for December 3. As of today, President Trump has not announced a final decision on the proposed broadcast.

Whatever we believe about capital punishment, this proposal raises a separate question: What happens when we invite the public to watch a human being die?

The people killed at Fort Hood, the survivors, and their families deserve sustained attention and support. Their views about the broadcast differ and deserve a respectful hearing. Honoring them also requires considering the consequences of distributing graphic footage to a broad audience, many of whom will see it inadvertently, including children.

What We Watch Can Stay With Us

Watching is a powerful experience. We wince when someone falls, tense during a frightening scene, and smile when someone smiles at us. Even through our screens, emotions are transmitted.

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes moral elevation: the uplifting feeling that can come from witnessing moral goodness, accompanied by a desire to act better ourselves. In experiments by Simone Schnall and colleagues, participants who watched an elevation-inducing video subsequently helped more. In one experiment, they spent approximately twice as long helping with a tedious task as participants who watched amusing or neutral material.

Witnessing cruelty or suffering can evoke a different range of responses: disgust, anger, fear, or disillusionment. There is no single, universally accepted opposite of........

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