I made the porridge this morning. I wasn't performing at my best today as breakfast chef. When I went to dish it up, I found I had made oatmeal soup instead of porridge. Thinking back, I must have used one scoop of oatmeal instead of the usual two. I was probably thinking about writing this note when I should have been concentrating on cooking. I didn't shift gears.
In previous notes I drew attention to different modes of thinking which I called Second Nature and First Nature, raising a question. How many modes of thinking are there? Hold on. I promise not to write about 198 more human Natures. Three is quite enough for my tiny brain. Or maybe four if we count neutral.
So here we go. We're talking about different human Natures as if they were gears and we are learning to drive. If we always leave the shifting up to the automatic transmission, sometimes we wind up with soup when we want porridge. Excuse the mixed metaphors. Just now I am writing this note and I need to shift gears. So let's apply this metaphor to the climate emergency. How are we going to fix this mess?
Neutral is ignoring what's going on because we are distracted, or in denial, or happy making money off fossil fuels, or leaving it up to someone else to fix. While in neutral, we're going to coast.
First Gear is quick and intuitive action to counter immediate threats and supply urgent needs. We're not going to waste time thinking it over. We'll just trust our gut and maybe get things right, or not. If your house is on fire, get out. This isn't the time to write to the government about climate policy or shop online for a smoke alarm.
On the other hand, if your house is not on fire, you could write a letter promoting policies to reduce the chance of fire or check the smoke alarm to be ready in the event. Second Gear is slow but mighty, objective and rational, generating ideas which ripen into understanding and belief as they are proven in use. Use this gear when you need control. After you write the letter and check the smoke alarm, reconsider your landscaping which could be a fire hazard.
Third Nature is imaginative, questioning, innovative, progressive. Better ideas may take time to develop and implement, but they will eventually get us up to speed when we need to go a distance. Don't use the lower gears on the highway. Wildfires are on the rise partly because of global GHG emissions. We need global action.It seems that when we are at leisure, prosperous and safe, we automatically shift up, which may be fine. But when we are busy, needy or threatened we shift down. Automatic shifting is a First Nature response requiring no thought. Like this.
As the climate emergency advances and we are more threatened and needy, we are seeing all over the world an automatic shift down to protect immediate interests and reduce commitment to serious solutions. Just when we need to be progressive and adapt to change, we insist on business as usual because things were better awhile ago. Of course, what was working awhile ago is the reason we are in trouble now, and business as usual means more trouble.
To make things worse, just when we need coordinated action on a global level with everybody cutting emissions, we withdraw into national and partisan groups because those other guys are the problem. After all, there's just a few of us, so we don't do much damage...
...unless we are alive; then we are part of the problem. In my opinion, if we can't get together and stop burning carbon, we're done. Automatic shifting isn't working. We need to take control and shift up. Let's do it.
When I saw the soup in the porridge pot, I didn't yell something unprintable, throw the soup in the garbage and have ice cream for breakfast. I added another scoop of oatmeal, and we waited until it cooked. It was worth the wait.
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Limits to Growth: Live Science, July 2021
Far Right Gains in EU: BBC, Katya Adler, June 10 2024.
Economic Case for Climate Action: David Suzuki and Ian Hanington
High Voltage Link Morocco to UK: Just Have a Think, June 9, 2024
GHG Emissions by Country: Wikipedia
GHG Emissions by Country: Our World in Data, 2022
Firewise Landscape Design: Logan Hailey, Epic Gardening
Carbon-calculator: TreeCanada
Wildfires: CTV News
Climate Change Fuels Wildfires Worldwide: David Suzuki, August 8, 2024
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Report on our rooftop solar array:
-installed March 2018
-in operation 75 months
-installation cost $29,774
-revenue to date $20,581
-energy produced 71.5 Mwh
-electrical use 60.9 Mwh
14 years remaining on contract
projected 24 years of use remaining
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