What are pedagogical challenges when we want to motivate for climate action? Here are 7 psychological barriers that may stop people on the road from feelings to action. These hurdles all have their solutions, you find below:
1.Distance - in geography and future
People tend to have short sight perspective. First I see now. I can only see the present. I avoid believing it, until I see it. Only what I see is real! It is difficult to see the bending of the curve. It is linear thinking.
Alternative: Ask your visualisation brain network, and ask your creative problem solving brain network. Both are in the imagination, fantasy brain network (default mode network). Access your empathy with what is distant. Empathy and values are in your wholeness balance brain network (salience network).
2.Loss, cost, sacrifice
Doomesday, fear, awfulness, rage – are little attractive. Even grief is little attractive. However fear attracts your attention. That is a result of evolution and the need to survive. You move away from what you mislike. But in what direction? Towards which goal? It is no solution in fear.
The solution has to be created and attached. That is to go beyond fear.
3.Brain chaos
Is when your mind is dragging you in contrary direction. The result may be less action. When you have such cognitive dissonance, you lack alignment of values and practise.
The solution is to get on line what you feel as values, what you think and do.
4.Deny, because of fear, and feeling of awfulness
You deny because of a hope and belief, that is stronger than facts.
Alternative is to listen with respect to facts. Observe without judging and defending your stanpoinyts – whatever is flowing in front of you as feelings, thoughts and body sensations. To manage this, you need to relax first, be in a de-stressed mindful state of mind.
5.Autopilot cultural identity and tradition
Your autopilot values, beliefs and thinking filters may overrule new facts. Your autopilot may be linked to the values, culture and persons you identify yourself with. We often are social mirroring our role models and ideals. Our role heroes, influencers and inspiration persons – we learn from them, get inspired and act like them. We wish to be part of a winning team.
A solution is to accept the power of cultural identity. A good idea is to get influencers to go first to show the sustainable development road.
6.Fear
Guilt/blame and shame pacify and leads to apathy and lack of action. Maybe even grief does that.
Alternative is to overcome fear, flight and freeze – and get into a state of fight. Fight for a positive alterneative linked to seeking, lust, care, play – and hope, common solutions, joy.
7.Blindness of scale
Our bias to have trouble with understanding numbers and proportions and where we are in the curve of development and change - leads to the tragedy of the common goods, difficult to predict correct.
Alternative is first seek truth from facts. Local analysis of local conditions. Then take a step back to system level, overview the wholeness and balance of a complex system. Then you have to get access to your wholeness balance (salience) brain network. If you only see details – or only see the empty theretical shell of the system – you lack the balance of the wholeness. Solution is in empathy with all parts.
Do you want to experience a session on sustainable neuro strategy: contact helge.christie@gmail.com
Resources:
My book: Kreativ i ekstremvær:
https://www.helgechristie.com/butikk/helge-christies-15-bok-kreativ-i-ekstremvr-e-bok
Stoknes Per Espen: What we think about when we try not to think about global warming.