We assume that we've come so far as compassionate citizens of the world if we do choose to read the news yet the attitude towards life can be one where we put blinders on and forget that there are civil wars going on. It's easy to forget that there are so many people starving to death every single day.
I'd go down to the end of my street to a garage that had a certain feeling about it or a particular light I'd take a picture of a friend who needed a head shot. That's how I learned instead of having school assignments and learning camera techniques.