In today’s world, empathy is a passing thing. Just look at the disaster in Haiti. Hurricane Katrina. Virginia Tech. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Our attention spans for these kinds of events are getting shorter and shorter. That should come as no surprise, though, seeing as how we live in a world where things continue to move quicker and quicker. (For example, I just Googled the word “quick” and got 2.16 billion search results in 0.27 seconds. Quick.) As a result, caring about these issues and events often becomes just a fad.

That’s why I like the idea behind the Social Tattoo Project. The project is, in their own words, “making empathy permanent.” Here’s what they have to say about it:

People care about a world crisis… for a week. But we think the world’s issues deserve more than just a moment of empathy.

The Social Tattoo Project is making empathy permanent. Our volunteers are getting tattoos that represent worldly issues, but they have no idea what their tattoos will be. They are letting you decide.

For each tattoo, we will post 4 trending topics on Twitter, and the most tweeted trend will be the subject of the tattoo. To vote, tweet #socialtattoo and your #favorite trend of the 4 to @social_tattoo. With your vote and our volunteers’ skin, we can make what the world empathizes with today, what we care about forever.

Crazy, right?

I’m not sure if I’m brave enough to volunteer my own skin for a social tattoo, but the idea is definitely intriguing, to say the least. Even as someone who’s only voted for the tattoos, the project’s made me a lot more conscious to not just let the tragedies suffered across the world fade so quickly from my memory. I hope others take away that lesson from the project as well.

Follow the Social Tattoo Project on Twitter @social_tattoo and check out their Facebook page, too.