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We’ve all seen and heard scientific reports and arguments about climate change from scholars in many different disciplines—biology, geology, environmental sciences, chemistry, and many more, and those disciplines seem obviously relevant to the phenomenon. Here’s one from psychology. What does psychology have to do with climate change? Not much with the changes themselves, perhaps, but it may have a lot to do with the debates and controversies surrounding the issue. In this May 2023 essay in The Conversation, psychology professor Jeremy P. Shapiro proposes an explanation for climate change denial.
Read it here.
EXPLORE, REFLECT, SPEAK UP.
1. What is the cognitive error that Shapiro describes? Why do so many people make the error so frequently? Summarize Shapiro’s explanation. Is his explanation persuasive? Why or why not? Explain your reasoning.
2. Shapiro is talking about “cognitive errors” and “dysfunction,” terms that are very likely to cause defensiveness or denial. What does Shapiro do to not shame or stigmatize readers, some of whom very likely commit this “cognitive error” in some aspect of their lives? What example does he use to help readers follow his thinking without reacting defensively? How successful is Shapiro in not rankling or offending readers? Explain your reasoning.
3. LET’S TALK. Shapiro is specifically addressing thinking with regard to climate change, but examples abound of this kind of black-and-white thinking in public discourse. Talk with a few classmates to come up with some other examples of binary thinking that pop up in the news or local community contexts. Shapiro doesn’t offer any solutions or paths out of the binary box, but you and your classmates might come up with something. Give it a try for one of your examples, and look for a way to not cause defensiveness or denial.
4. AND NOW WRITE. As Shapiro notes, binary, or “dichotomous,” thinking can be helpful; it simplifies the world and reduces our mental effort. We can presume that we all use it at some times and in some situations. Still, it can get us in trouble, and not just in political situations, but in relationships, as well. Think of a time when you had to challenge your own dichotomous thinking in order to resolve or improve some aspect of your life, possibly in an interpersonal context. What did you do? How did you think your way through it? Did anything dramatic happen to get your thinking to turn a corner? Write a narrative about your experience.
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