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One challenge is that we are a status seeking species. We fly to a remote beach because the one nearby is just as comfortable but won't make the same waves whe

One challenge is that we are a status seeking species. We fly to a remote beach because the one nearby is just as comfortable but won't make the same waves when we post a selfie on Facebook. We buy houses and cars to show how far we've gone instead of just for the sake of staying dry and warm and getting around. For the fifty years of the Cold War, we had a corporate sector that channeled our status seeking in ways that would keep the assembly lines running, the same assembly lines that could be retooled in hours to restart the Arsenal of Democracy in case of war. The result was consumerism as we know it. The case of Greta Thunberg throws it into relief. She has imposed a lot of restrictions on herself, but as she frequently points out, she remains very comfortable. But, we can't magically drive 8 billion people to copy a single person's disinterest in status seeking when that disinterest is caused by a brain pathology. What we have to do is rechannel that status seeking drive into directions that help the issue instead of worsening it.

abyssin 3y ago
I sometimes dream of a situation where we seek status through virtuous behaviour. Unfortunately there’s no religion with sufficient authority at the moment to gather a big enough community where this would take place, at least none that I could see myself joining. And at the same time consumerism is quite aggressive when you decide to opt out of it. It becomes hard to socialize when you publicly state that most of the available work contributes to worsening the environmental conditions and earns you money that you can’t spend on something else than consumerism.
meristohm 3y ago
Fair points. How to help people find a healthy sense of purpose without the pitfalls of many (all?) religions (this may reveal my ignorance about religion; perhaps the problem isn't religion itself but how we humans interpret and implement religious practices?) seems key. Culture shapes behavior, individuals can affect culture, and culture transcends individuals; if I have a positive impact towards decreasing the amplitude of climate-change catastrophe (part of what matters to me while I'm alive), that may help me die with more grace, knowing that my contributions will carry on awhile. After I'm dead nothing matters to me anymore (presumably), but while I'm alive it feels right to push for what I value.

abyssin 3y ago

I sometimes dream of a situation where we seek status through virtuous behaviour. Unfortunately there’s no religion with sufficient authority at the moment to gather a big enough community where this would take place, at least none that I could see myself joining. And at the same time consumerism is quite aggressive when you decide to opt out of it. It becomes hard to socialize when you publicly state that most of the available work contributes to worsening the environmental conditions and earns you money that you can’t spend on something else than consumerism.

meristohm 3y ago

Fair points. How to help people find a healthy sense of purpose without the pitfalls of many (all?) religions (this may reveal my ignorance about religion; perhaps the problem isn't religion itself but how we humans interpret and implement religious practices?) seems key. Culture shapes behavior, individuals can affect culture, and culture transcends individuals; if I have a positive impact towards decreasing the amplitude of climate-change catastrophe (part of what matters to me while I'm alive), that may help me die with more grace, knowing that my contributions will carry on awhile. After I'm dead nothing matters to me anymore (presumably), but while I'm alive it feels right to push for what I value.