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What are some flattering poses for people with oblong faces?

If climate change poses such a catastrophic risk, how can people be justified in feeling good about themselves if they're not doing anything they can to stop it?

  • The evidence suggests that it is likely climate change poses a catastrophic risk to the future of humanity. Given that, are there any moral justifications for not doing everything you can to lessen its impact? (I am trying to set aside the scientific question of whether it in fact poses such a catastrophic risk and the psychological question of why people ignore moral obligations, as those have been explored elsewhere). I'm asking this in the context of being more passionate about other topics at the moment, but feeling like if climate change actually causes grievous harm, I will feel quite guilty / stupid not having done much to work on it.

  • Answer:

    First, let's be clear that there is very little that can be done in the short term to "stop it." If the models are correct, a warming climate will continue throughout this century, regardless of efforts to ameliorate climate change. Thinking otherwise is about like treating a man who has had a heart attack by saying he should have lived a more healthful life for the past 20 years. Yes, steps to lower carbon emissions may be beneficial in the long run and should be pursued, but not to the neglect of all else. Second, probably far more important than trying to "stop it," would be planning now for ways to ameliorate the effects of inevitable warming. There is a lot to be done to make a warmer planet more habitable. When the first Pacific island slips completely under water will be a bit late to be thinking about what should have been done. Third, climate change is not the only catastrophic risk our planet faces. For example: There are enough nuclear weapons to cause a catastrophic nuclear winter. There is always the chance of another dinosaur-killing asteroid striking the planet and making us extinct. (We have the technology to detect it, but not to prevent it.) We are vulnerable to a catastrophic biological event. We are seeing highly resistant strains of staphylococcus, for instance, any one of which might exceed our ability to treat it and become a worldwide killer. There is always the possibility of worldwide famine, and there's not enough food stored anywhere to deal with that. We actually may be running out of water in parts of the world.

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I've spent thousands upgrading my house to use less energy, and been driving a wimp-ass Prius for 7 years.  Everyone else needs to chip in.

John Kes

The evidence suggests that it is likely climate change poses a catastrophic risk to the future of humanity. Given that, are there any moral justifications for not doing everything you can to lessen its impact? Nope. Climate change poses a very immediate and catastrophic risk. http://lasthours.org/

Dylan Bleier

"Anything they can" is quite a high level of individual effort. As far as doing what they reasonably can, there is no justification for not doing it.  I drive as little as I can, which also turns out well for my budget and health.

Richard Pietrasz

Well, to give a crazy answer. Probably the best thing that ever happened to humanity, was the Black Plague. No, really. It made it possible for us to change our social systems, because labor was now in demand - since many of the people had died. That fired of the Reneissance, somewhat later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequences_of_the_Black_Death And that is important, because some social systems are so stable, some suppression of information and social justice is so memetically viral, so fundamantalistic in nature, that they can very much be compared to the imagery of Nineteeneightyfour. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always — do not forget this, Winston — always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four#Chapter_3 So, what can happen in the future, and how could that be good? Well, sometimes people need to make mistakes in order to value avoiding them, afterwards. And there is a question to ask, if we avoided a quick collapse, what would we replace it with? A long, slow sign back into ignomy? I don't know. But I'm along for the ride, and there is next to nothing that I can do, especially because the kind of people who are currently selected to be in positions of decisive power, are probably unable to listen.

Vegard Pettersen

It is not complicated.  In general we discount future pain and pleasure.  For pain after we're dead, the discount rate is quite high.

Rob Weir

Its kind of like smoking. I know that smoking harms my lungs, much like air pollution harms the atmosphere. But I know that there is very little chance that I will die from smoking related causes within the near future. So I do not quit smoking today, similar to how we, the american people, do not demand renewable energy sources.

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