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> Climate experts talk a lot about “cathedral thinking.” It’s the idea of working towards long term goals — like a medieval cathedral. These goals require visi
by slibhb 3y ago
> Climate experts talk a lot about “cathedral thinking.” It’s the idea of working towards long term goals — like a medieval cathedral. These goals require vision, shared commitment, and decades, even centuries, of planning. The planners and builders don’t live to see the end product, but future generations reap the rewards.
> It’s an inspiring idea. Something maybe only humans could divine. But here’s the thing: cathedral thinking also requires a firm grasp of facts. A cathedral built on fantasy won’t stand for long.
> If my son and his friends think the coral reefs will be OK, the reefs are doomed. If he knows the truth, maybe he’ll become a biologist who tries to save them. When people know what they’re up against, many will be sad — I’m sad! — but then they can prepare.
This is an example of a perennial mistake where the science behind global warming is conflated with the science behind the consequences of global warming. No one knows if the coral reefs are doomed!
Additionally, it's ironic to use the term "cathedral thinking" and then talk about the necessity of sticking to the facts. Cathedrals are built by Christians as a way to worship God. As someone who doesn't believe in God, I see a lesson here: beleving in something, whether it's true or not, can be useful. In fact, it may even be necessary if you want beautiful things like cathedrals. And even us heathens can be inspiried by ideals that are -- being ideals -- unattainable.
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- kelseyfrog 3y agoI hate to point this out, but the cathedral thinking idea is just working on something you're likely not going to see finished. The original baggage is irrelevant to the metaphor. In fact, that's the point of metaphors - being able to take the core idea while understanding that the particulars are superfluous.
- Paul-Craft 3y agoOn the other hand, just because the coral reefs seem "fine" today doesn't mean they will be in 2 weeks. Referring to the recent mass die off of corals off the Florida Keys, Dr. Cory Krediet, a professor of marine science who studies corals had this to say: > “The health of the coral is at a catastrophic loss,” Krediet said. “This is an unprecedented level of temperature increase and it happened at a rate that the corals cannot deal with. We went from healthy reefs to bleach reefs and dead reefs within 10 days.” https://www.clickorlando.com/weather/2023/07/27/floridas-coral-reefs-are-dying-heres-why-you-should-care/ https://www.clickorlando.com/weather/2023/07/27/floridas-cor... And the temperature just keeps going up. It might be months, years, maybe even a couple decades, but things keep looking worse and worse for the corals, and we're not doing enough to stop it.
- slibhb 3y agoI agree; there's no grounds for saying that reefs will be fine.