I received a private message that seems like a public comment, perhaps they wanted to stay anonymous. I don’t want to engage in a discussion via private messages, so I’m posting it here, see if anyone else wants to add anything.
On climate, I’ve always looked at things from a consequence-first angle.
So here’s a question for you: if the data keeps showing ocean heat going up (or crop yields dropping, or pollinators dying off), what’s the one big change you’d expect to actually happen?
What do I expect to actually happen? Given todays’ trends, then looking at the people who hold the levers of power, I don’t see any turning back, we’re on a highway to hell. Black Swan events, of a bewildering range will bring cascading consequences beyond our imagining. While the survivors do the best they can, as the world becomes increasingly fragmented, and so on.
Sorry I’m busted, feeling pessimistic, my sanity is only saved by a high degree of fatalism. (oh and also a solidly grounded sense of self).
- but on the bright side
Could be government policy, energy investment, farming, whatever.
For humanity to pull their heads out of their keisters.
Recognize ourselves for who we are.
Recognizing the importance of our Earth and nature and dare I say ecology and ecospheres and other creatures, not to mention the room for people to breathe.
I’m curious what you’d point to as the next logical step.
Truly deeply emotionally recognizing oneself for the evolved creature that we are.
Recognize that our biology/body/brain is the cumulative product of over half a billion years. And that it matters!
While your consciousness is the product of your body/brain living life, the interior reflection of your body communicating with itself. And that this basic formulation of, Body + Brain + Interaction (interior & exterior) = consciousness, has been life’s imperative, each to their own kind, since the beginning. We are all inter-related and inter-dependent.
This awareness changes one’s attitude towards oneself - especially one’s expectations, and priorities. Not to mention landing one’s feel on solid ground, too many religions and sciencie people keep looking for some “meaning” in the heavens, that os backwards, counterproductive.
Instead of seeing Earth as a thing to suck dry - investing in nurturing each other and our living Earth, thereby the future, becomes a self-evident priority - whereas now the profits of a tiny elite takes top priority over everything, and everyone. That’s insane.
Recognizing how incredibly self-absorbed and self-serving we human beings are. But it’s not a melodrama of right and wrong. Biologically every creature is self-absorbed and self-serving, so there is that. This realization demands some serious soul searching that for all the talkers out there, no one really wants to do. Because no one wants to face it, the no bruised ego rule.
On climate, I’ve always looked at things from a consequence-first angle.
Me too, and I’ve been witness through the 60s, then 70s, 80s, … There was public education, learning about what science was learning about our impact on this planet that created and sustains us. … the money learned how to brainwash the masses like never before.
It could have been different, had there been any real interest in learning about ourselves and our origins, how we are intimately tied to the rest of this Earthly creation around us, that’s been unfolding for billions and hundreds of millions of years, one day at a time. If only more would have paid attention, but a sense of entitlement and Having More Stuff became God. Without an end to that, nothing can change. Locked and loaded.
It would have made a difference to truly realize and absorb how we humans may be one credible animal, but still, we are made of the same stuff as other animals around us, and in learning about our heritage and interrelations, we learn a lot more about ourselves.
Then, … perhaps, we could have learned to be happy with less flash & bang and stuff.
I don’t know what goes on inside other people, I myself have a personal relationship with the natural landscapes and creatures, an emotional connection that matters to me like my own human family {which actually consists of a number of circles of families, with relations on every imaginable level - in a reality where blood matters, still in the real world, it’s making memories that creates those precious family bonds.} My circles of connection keep going past the humans in my life, out into the wider world of this miracle planet Earth and the places I’ve been blessed to be a part of.
Short answer, same as it ever was:
Change our way of thinking - seeking moderation - sharing a little, finding contentment in life rather than the endless race to accumulate more stuff (and to being a bigger big shot than the next guy).
But we want more, more, more. So solutions will remain out of reach, runaway technology can’t fix, the problems runaway technology created.
Enjoy it while you can.