Today i want to talk about psychology.
Specifically what a cookie
can teach us about climate change.
You see there's this test
that you can give little kids.
You give them a cookie
and then you tell them:
So that cookie is yours,
you can eat it now...
Yay!
Or you can wait 15 minutes
without eating it
and then you'll get two cookies.
Two cookies! Wow!
Littler kids just can't get
their heads around this.
To them the hypothetical cookie
that they're waiting for
just isn't real in the same way that
the cookies sitting in front of them is.
And so they just can't wait.
But when kids are
a little bit older
they know that
it's worth holding out
so that they can get
more of a good thing.
I didn't eat the cookie
but I waited for all the time
to not...
not eating it...
Oh well done!
So that means now you get
your second cookie!
Two cookies! Yeah!
Well I say that older kids
are better at this,
but actually some
of the oldest kids
- sometimes known as adults -
are terrible at this.
And this is where
climate change comes in.
You see to many of us,
the threats of climate change
still seem far away.
It can feel like the benefits of action
are in the future
whereas the costs of action
are here today.
It can feel like we're being asked:
Okay now if you want you can
burn that fossil fuel now...
... or you can keep it
buried in the ground,
transition to a carbon neutral economy
and build a safer, better futu...
...okay you've already set it on fire.
Yes.
In reality, though, climate change
isn't some far off, future threat.
Climate change is already
threatening our lives
through extreme weather events
like floods and heat waves.
And yes the impacts
of climate change will get worse
as we keep burning fossil fuels
and emitting more greenhouse gases,
but climate change
is already here today.
For example in things like
the extreme heat that has hit Siberia
for many months this year,
which would have been virtually impossible
without humans heating the planet.
And on the flip side,
fighting climate change will benefit us
in loads of other more immediate ways.
For example, by creating jobs
and giving us healthier air to breathe.
But i get it.
For those of us lucky enough
to feel like climate change
hasn't directly impacted our lives
it can still seem far away.
And research has shown
that this attitude
can hinder us
from working together.
With politicians only in power
for four or five years
before they're up for re-election
it can be tough to get them
to take on the long-term strategies
that we need to tackle climate change.
I always figured that
if we were faced
with a more immediate threat
in wealthier countries
then we'd tackle it more sensibly...
... *ahem* ...
But the reality is
that even when faced
with a global pandemic,
many of us find it hard
to inconvenience ourselves a bit now
for potentially life-saving future benefits.
If you can just keep that mask on
when you're in shops
or on public transport
and keep a safe social distance
then you...ve already set it on fire.
And now I get that
this is a simplification.
Having to wait for the benefits
is just one reason that people and politicians
are so bad at climate and corona action.
There are plenty of other reasons
like fake news, our underlying values,
or the fact that the worst impacts
are felt by the people who
have the least power to change things.
But that little kid inside us
who just can't wait
for an extra cookie,
is certainly a crucial factor.
So what can we do to combat this?
Well for one thing,
we need to make the future
more present in our minds.
That means we have to talk
about our fears.
For example, that big parts
of the world
will be made unlivable
by extreme heat and rising seas.
But we also need to talk
about our hopes.
For me that means creating a world
that is more sustainable and more livable.
And we need to ask ourselves:
how will this future
reflect the values that i have today?
And we need to emphasize
that climate change
isn't just something in the future.
We need to share stories about
how it impacts our lives here and now.
For example the life and death struggles
of dealing with the devastating storm
in the middle of a global pandemic.
Sharing these kinds of stories
helps us connect the work we need to do
with the benefits that we'll see.
They bring the consequences here and now
and help make action
a little easier to swallow.
Because - after all -
we all need a cookie now and again.
If you find discussions about
climate change like this useful,
then make sure you
like and share this video
so that even more people can see it.
And you can become a patron
over at my patreon
if you want to make sure
I can keep making videos
into the future.
Okay until next time, bye!
What a great video idea..!
