I’ve been thinking about the psychology of our collective response to climate chaos a lot lately, and not just as part of my 4,839th attempt to truly understand the denier mindset. Perhaps this is due to my training in economics, and the deep understanding it gives (or should give) people of the importance of perception vs. reality.[1]
I’ve come across a number of related articles, including one from 2006 (see the first one below) that mysteriously showed up in my Google alerts today, for some reason known only to the Internet gods. I’ve also included some items about the ongoing efforts to deceive people into thinking climate change isn’t real or isn’t a major threat.
I think all of these are worth at least a quick perusal, in particular the “Fiddling” item, as it exposes just how willfully deceptive the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board is.
- Fiddling While the Planet Burns
- A Climate Deception Revisited: What’s Behind the Signatures of 31,478 Skeptical “Scientists”
- Psychological barriers hobble climate action
- Why the US Lags Behind the Entire World in Understanding Climate Change
- Global poll finds 73% want higher priority for climate change
- Catch Up With Scientists on Climate Change-the American Public is Way Behind
- Survey Shows Gap Between Scientists and the Public
- Public Praises Science; Scientists Fault Public, Media: Overview – Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
- New Climate Bill Forgery? Faking Broad Public Opposition
- The wisdom of crowds
- APA Press Release: Psychological Factors Help Explain Slow Reaction to Global Warming, Says APA Task Force (includes link to 230-page report))
[1] I know that some of you probably believe the ridiculous caricatures of economists that are repeated endlessly online, particularly on some of the energy-themed sites, so this statement about perception vs. reality may come as a shock. But it’s true. At the core of microeconomic theory is the utility function, which maps the consumption of various goods at various levels to a person’s (or business’ or whatever’s) well being. The differences in each consumers’ utility functions is what drives our spending and consumption habits in different directions. And it’s all based on the perception of what we’ll get in exchange for each unit of each good or service purchased.
