The People Paradox: Self-Esteem Striving, Immortality Ideologies, and Human Response to Climate Change

shiftregister:

  • Ernest Becker’s Ideas on Denial of Death and the Symbolic Self
  • “A recent paper by the biologist Janis L Dickinson, published in the journal Ecology and Society, proposes that constant news and discussion about global warming makes it difficult for people to repress thoughts of death, and that they might respond to the terrifying prospect of climate breakdown in ways that strengthen their character armour but diminish our chances of survival(14). There is already experimental evidence suggesting that some people respond to reminders of death by increasing consumption(15). Dickinson proposes that growing evidence of climate change might boost this tendency, as well as raising antagonism towards scientists and environmentalists. Our message, after all, presents a lethal threat to the central immortality project of Western society: perpetual economic growth, supported by an ideology of entitlement and exceptionalism.” - Monbiot, Death Denial

The People Paradox: Self-Esteem Striving, Immortality Ideologies, and Human Response to Climate Change