Your article on the apathetic fiftieth anniversary of the European Union is no less than liberating (“Two Cheers for Apathy,” March 31, 2007). As you conclude, even apathy has its consolations. The metaphor of the behavioral condition known as “learned helplessness” is worth repeating here in full. Martin Seligman, a psychologist, subjected two groups of dogs to electric shocks in 1965. One group could end the shocks by pressing a lever. The lucky dogs recovered quickly. The other group had a dead lever, though. Unable to escape the shocks, they became apathetic and simply cowered on the electrified floor. The poor dogs learned they were entirely helpless. The consolation you offer to the hapless subjects of the Union is priceless, indeed: the ordeal is nothing but an innocent scientific experiment! After all, Seligman’s dogs recovered sooner or later, no matter which of the two groups they were originally assigned to.