What are attractive strategies to find climate solutions? There is a broad scale of climate and biological diversity risk, damage and crisis - that maybe can be tacled by investing in insurance, prepare, adapt, prevent, avoid, precautionary principle, ethics and similar strategies:
1)The alternative to pain is pleasure
Pain is dark and pleasure is light. Pain may be - rage, fear, grief - loss, cost, sacrifice, fear culture and power technics. We go away from danger but may be uncertain which direction where the goal is. This is too little to motivate and find climate solutions. Evolution has made the human brain to focus most on dangers that treathen survival. More attention at the pain and problems and less attention at positive solutions. We gather experiences and feelings of rage, fear and grief. Brave is opposite to fear. Brave is to solve. Fear is to go away.
An alternative is positive, hope, common solution, co-create, joy. This is a towards the goal motivation. It has a direction to reach an attractive goal. We need goals that attracts us which direction to go. Some have to go in front – so the others know where to go. If not – the others don’t know where to go.
2)Dark and light in the tunnel
Tunnel-view is very common. In a tunnel it seems very dark. The light and solution may seem very small. If it is a bend in the tunnel, the light may be even more difficult to see. We often think linear. We miss to understand we are in the midth of a curve. Reality is often changing – while we think development is linear. «I only believe what I see now».
3) Health and climate are interlinked
Health is defined as lack of pain and presence of pleasure in this way: Absence of sickness and presence of well being. Yes, you have to take it a leap further: You need to stop global warming in order to obtain good health. When you focus positively on health and life quality of people near you – climate comes up. Such it is possible to build alliance between the two positive interests, health and climate. Good health may be experienced as ego interest, «what’s in it for me?» This is good and makes health also become a motivation for climate solutions. Two in one is nice!
Health economy is therefore also an argument for climate economy: Wellbeing index is better than Gross Domestic Product. GDP measures the market monetary value of goods and services produced. Money is a symbolic accounting. More real is resource and environmental accounting. Real economy is more basic and should be more important than symbolic, money, finance economy.
4)Insurance and precautionary principle
Why is precautionary principle so difficult to practice? Why is it more difficult than paying insurance? Precautionary economy is needed – but difficult to agree upon. People often mean «I believe only what I see now».
5)Insurance
is to avoid repetitive damages that are seen before or heard of before. Insurance is risk reduction, risk sharing of a possible coming problem. Insurance means to pay before some damage maybe may come. To get people ready to pay in advance – they may have experienced, seen or heard others are hit. We may argue «you pay insurance even it is not certain a damage may hit you. OK, then you should pay insurance in advance to avoid climate-biological diversity problems also?»
It maybe is more difficult to get people to pay insurance for a climate problem they have not yet seen. «I believe only what I have seen».
In addition, precautionary thinking may be so large, abstract and uncertain. It may be a may be risk we have never seen yet. Then we need to split it up in small micro challenges and solutions that are more easy to grasp and handle.
6)Precautionary principle
is to be careful with potensial risky new technology solutions and laissez faire thinking. You avoid, go in another direction, stay away from taking into use. It may be a not yet seen damage, an imagitve damage not yet happened. Global warming has possible tipping points, crossing planetary boundaries, ecosystem limits, carrying capasity of ecosystem. Better – think before – than thuink clever afterwards - when it is too late to avoid. You need to imagine more than you have seen. Imagine more than – «I believe only what I see (now)» - that is opposite to precautionary principle.
7)Wholeness balance (salience) brain network
That is where your precautionary system thinking happens. To think before a potential problem not yet seen is complex: First you need to access your imagination visualisation brain network (default mode network). Second you need to access to logic thinking brain network (central executive network) to plan and avoid damage. Third you need to balance the wholeness og feeling and thinking, visualisation and logic. It takes time to exercise your brain tothis kind of «before it is too late thinking». Foresight imagination thinking.
8)Risk and other quality strategies
*Risk, damage, problem – or fear of it
We may reduce, prevent, avoid, share, spread risk.
*Adapt, prepare for what might come
Prepared means you see a challenge coming and you make a plan, gather resources to meet the problem when it comes. You see a problem is coming and then you prepare.
*Prevent damage
is to build a stopping block that hinders the problem to hurt you. Very effective way to reduce CO2-emission.
*Avoid
is to go in another direction than the problem, you may go around and beyond. You create another solution and path. Go away from problem may be defensive. Its a question of how large is the problem. Climate change I want to avoid. Painful measures I accept in stead.
*Ethics
are positive values and living rules. We need that as the basis for sustainable nature, society and economy. We need to create and agree upon values - into beliefs - your identity and role and proudness - your vision, mission and goal.
9.Climate engagement spreads hope
Action gives experience of energy and change is going on and you are part oft the change process.
Experience of hope. Common actions may show large results and increase motivation.
Permanent small micro success, creates a movement from mastering and dopamine hormone feelings from one dopamine wave to the next. That inspires.
10)Uncertainty about climate facts – is used to climate denial and less action
I think there is so much sound scientific evidence of global warming and the role of human CO2-emission. But some want to wait and wait and wait for more information input to be 100% sure. Let’s wait til we are dead! Then we may be certain. This is a normal part of the Gauss curve: We have too much and too little information - on both sides of the main and middle opinion, that sais – we have enough information to act now! More certainty makes it easier to take action.
An alternative is: Guess a solution, let’s play with it! Let’s act – and we will learn more as we act.
Do you want to experience a session on sustainable neuro strategy: contact helge.christie@gmail.com
My book: Kreativ i ekstremvær:
https://www.helgechristie.com/butikk/helge-christies-15-bok-kreativ-i-ekstremvr-e-bok