I’m waiting for the day when change sweeps in. When climate change is all the news. What is it about America that makes us the nation with the most significant proportion of climate change skeptics? Listen to the latest episode of NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast “Rewinding and Rewriting” for some clues.
I think we as a people with our exceptional bent toward positivity and reliance on no one but self – these are strengths in a way, but even our greatest strengths can open us up to certain vulnerabilities that others have to a lesser degree.
If one is bent too strongly toward positivity then perhaps one does not sufficiently process regret or counterfactuals (a psychological term, I gather) or learn from one’s mistakes.
If one is first of all unwilling to change one’s behavior or entertain the thought that we might need to send new signals to the economy – then of course you’re going to go on to tow the line that big fossil fuel has laid out.
I am a person who has to work to get certain counterfactuals out of my head when they are no longer useful. We as a people need to consciously open our minds to certain counterfactuals because to do so is to open one’s mind to solutions.
Matthew Lamberts
Bigfork