Can We Come Together to Stop Global Warming?
A Cognitive Approach to Understanding Climate Change.
I spend most of my time researching what people are doing in the
area of transportation to find ways for us to get around that are
sustainable, and trying to make that information more accessible to
the public.
I often wonder, how did we get into this global warming mess in
the first place?
I also wonder; are we as human beings capable of coming together
to solve such a complex problem as climate change?
For me, the answer to both questions comes down to how we see
ourselves.
Do we see ourselves as fundamentally separate, or connected?
By this I mean; do we see our individual actions as connected to
some larger, purposeful whole?
A fundamental challenge for us as humans is that our brains have
two very different sides, (known as the left, and right hemispheres)
which behave in strikingly different ways.
In simple terms, the left side of our brain is primarily
analytical in the "way" it functions. It takes complexity and reduces
it to simple, often symbolic, parts that we can separate such as when
we form words to represent concepts.
The right side of our brain is primarily intuitive in the "way"
it functions. It has no problem with complexity, and can "see" complex
connections such as when we create, and view images. The right is the
"feeling" side of our brain, associated with emotions, (which often
offend the left side as interfering with reason), and yet it is well
known (thanks to Kierkegaard) that our individual actions are
motivated by our feelings more than our reasons.
These two "sides" of our brains are connected by a structure
called the corpus callosum. Yet, essentially the preponderance of
scientific evidence suggests that the two hemispheres of our brain
function for the most part, independently, with one side being the
"dominant" arbiter depending on the task at hand.
For most of human history the left side of the brain has been the
more dominant force in both our individual and collective struggle to
survive. Quick analysis was essential in dodging dinosaurs. Analysis
is also a critical step in the process of solving more complex
problems.
To understand how we got where we are today with global warming
for example, requires analysis of past choices, and the dominant
cognitive processes governing the choices we have made.
A critical event in human evolution occurred when humans
developed the ability to create a delay between an impulse, and our
response to it. This ability, to delay response to impulse, allowed
humans the luxury possibility, the opportunity for the evolution of
language, art, music, thoughtful action, everything we call culture.
Time then, has been an essential element in the evolution of our
species. Time, (until recently) has been our friend; this time delay
in our responses to impulses for example, time also, to consider the
implications of our choices on our own destiny.
With regard to nature, though, humans seem to have been a bit
short sighted. Historically, the most successful strategy so far has
been to see nature as something to overcome, to subdue, to have
"dominion" over. Humans have chosen to see themselves (with indigenous
tribal cultures excepted) as some how separate and independent from
nature, an exercise in analytical, left brain dominant thinking.
Another well-documented aspect of human cognitive development is
what is commonly referred to as "delayed gratification". Similar to
the aforementioned ability to delay a response to an impulse; delayed
gratification is more specific to the ability to deny an immediate
satiation of desire for a perceived greater reward at a point in time
farther into the future. An essential element of delayed gratification
is the ability to think "in terms of connections"- to conceive of some
future outcome as directly connected to immediate choices, an example
of holistic, intuitive, right brained dominant thinking.
Thinking of ourselves as separate entities, individuals with our
rights and freedoms, separate from nature, and divided as human beings
has brought us to where we are today. Today we are facing a global
climate crisis that threatens our survival. Collectively we have
failed to exercise our ability to either delay or restrain our
immediate desires to claim the earth's gifts for ourselves.
Solving the complex problem of climate change will require that
we either evolve as a species or become the willing arbiters of our
own demise. What worked in the past with regard to our individual and
collective choices regarding carbon emissions is not working anymore.
Failing to recognize this fact is what psychologists call "self
defeating behavior," -continuing to do what you've always done because
it "always worked in the past".
What I am convinced we need most at this critical moment in
history is to recognize that as human beings we are indeed all
connected in our mutual vulnerability to climate disasters, and in our
need to participate in a coordinated, collective response to the
mounting crisis of global climate change.
Changing how we see ourselves, from separate individuals, groups,
or even nations, to connected partners united by our efforts to change
our individual and collective behaviors will ultimately determine
whether we will continue as the dominant species on planet Earth. We
need to relearn how to think in terms of our connectedness on a global
scale and make our day-to-day choices with those connections present
in our thinking instead of simply reacting to our individual impulses.
In short, we need to evolve.
Time is both our friend, and our enemy. We all need to take time
to reflect on our choices before making decisions, but if we fail to
come together now to reduce carbon emissions I am convinced there will
ultimately be no future for any of us human beings.
Peter Oppewall, December 20th, 2007
