psychology of domination: what beliefs/ideas are instrumental in allowing man to assume his role as POLLUTER?

Question

pollution: it's what we do.

even if you subscribe to the IT'S TOO LATE TO CHANGE school of global warming, you must admit that there arrived a tipping point, when man continued to damage the environment while being aware of his effects on it. those who have seen and studied our effects on the environment first hand realize this too. ignorance is no longer an option: we all KNOW what happens when we pollute. yet it persists.

here's the PSYCHOLOGY part of the question: what beliefs and ideas allow us to continue to do so? how do we rationalize it? what motivates people to continue to take steps that they know are BAD for them, and for the earth... is it a sense of entitlement? a belief in man's right/ability to dominate his world? religion? money? what?

we know what we do. why do we continue?

Answer 1

The psychology that keeps running around my head is this: CO2 is not pollution.

Every rain forest is rich in CO2. That is why we have rain forests. Plant life thrives on greenhouse gases of which CO2 gets sucked out of the air and absorbed by the plants.

What's the point in controlling CO2 emissions and then giving a free ride to toxic chemicals? If you don't believe in pollution as you say, check out how they are replacing CO2 emissions with HFC 23 which is 11,000 times stronger and a real toxic pollutant.

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2093816,00.html

This all in the cause of global warming.

So my psychology is that I don't take no bull crap and I won't let myself be hoodwinked in going after the CO2 bogeyman when real environmental problems plague the earth.

I also won't give companies the free pass to pollute in the name of global warming because by polluting us with toxins they are producing less of the beneficial CO2!

Check out the new carbon substitutes:

http://www2.dupont.com/Vertrel/en_US/

and

http://www.dupontrefinish.com/portal/en?page=GU-1.3.1_Current_Press_Release&category=PressReleaseCategoryOne&catid=52&catid2=5350



Perhaps you're the one with the "psychology" ?

Answer 2

It's all money (and power.)

We've been brainwashed into believing that we are the only polluters on this planet, when in reality all of nature pollutes constantly. Everything breaks back down into elements and is reused and recycled.

Just look at the pollution caused by one volcano. Mt. St. Helens gave off more pollution to the atmosphere than all the cars in history.

The idea was that if they could convince people into believing that their very existence is polluting the planet, and that all of nature would be a garden of eden if only humans were gone, they could get them to succumb to heavy taxes on guilt.

We could either kill ourselves or just pay a small tax for everything we do that someone in power has determined is "polluting" the planet.

It's worked pretty good - we certainly have a lot of nonsense taxes that do nothing to help the environment - but it's falling apart as more are educated.

I think we've done pretty good at keeping this planet clean. It's definitely better now than it was 30 years ago.

I think this generation is very conscious of the environment without being ignorant enough to buy into the tax absorbing idiocy of hoaxes like what Al Gore and his billionaire buddies want us to fall for.

Answer 3

The narrowest prison in the whole wide world is the capital letter I. This solipsism is the root of the problem and source of its psychology. Religion and money are immaterial as they imply some sense of society and interaction, both of these in the end militate against pollution. I press on because only I matter, oblivious of cause or effect outside of self with no respect for time beyond the immediate self gratification of lying in my warm waste.

Answer 4

It's very simple - we want to exist.

There are two basic types of organisms:

Autotrophs

Heterotrophs

We happen to be heterotrophs and as such, our existence depends on consumption and therefore destruction of autotrophs and other heterotrophs. In return we are consumed by heterotrophs and our byproducts are consumed by autotrophs.

The question is NOT whether we should "harm" the environment - it is unavoidable. The question is how and how MUCH do we decrease this "harm"?


Now if you really want to question the psychology of this situation, then you must ask whether we are more than the animal our genetics "describe". Are we to allow only an animal existence for ourselves, consuming no more than our predecessors with no other goal in life than to successfully procreate? Most would consider that being doomed to a dismal fate. So we try to live what can be considered a "purposeful" life.

What that "purpose" is, I won't pretend to know. We derive it from our families, our religion, our culture, our education...even ruminating on Y!A. Most of us are on what would seem like a permanent quest to discover that purpose; we may find ourselves constantly redefining it. Unfortunately, the pursuit of a purposeful life also demands "consumption" of the environment.

How, then, do we put a price on "purpose"? That is, how much environmental damage do we consider worth a given purpose? Since our purpose and value system are inextricably linked, can we validly evaluate another's purpose? Who is going to be the arbiter of what type of life is worth the negative impact levied on the environment?

We have done a bang-up job of weakening the family, pushing aside religion, abandoning cultural norms and calling it "progressive", dumbing down education in favor of politically correct indoctrination...is it ANY wonder that we foolishly squander resources, spinning our wheels, trying to rediscover the kinds of "purpose" that had served our predecessors well?

The key would be to try and define our individual purposes and focusing our energies on achieving it. Doing so would cut down on the wasted efforts and, in turn, minimize environmental damage. Realize and accept that none of us are perfect; mistakes and straying from our purpose WILL happen.

Answer 5

You are giving mankind way too much credit. Until we stop commerce, there will always be monumental waste. We need a calamity to wake the people up. There is a pile of plastic junk the size of Texas floating the doldrums of the Pacific right now. We need to forget about man's inhumanity to man and work on products that recycle all this junk. So far, we're making pallets and building materials. We need more.

Answer 6

that is between the finest questions i've got seen right here. The solutions additionally are exciting, precise, or perhaps incredible. that is been my small fact that many adult men nevertheless think of they have the extra perfect deal and "females's artwork" is uninteresting. one element that stunned me in examining the solutions is what number females reported effective issues with reference to the artwork they do and how friendly that is. i've got labored exterior the living house in intense tech industries that house primary jobs can no longer carry a candle to so far as complexity, and exciting subject count and that i like the stimulating ecosystem. i could pass bonkers attempting to enhance young ones. i could additionally pass bonkers with worry if I had to combat in a conflict. I agree that roles are changing, yet there continues to be fairly some social rigidity for persons to look or act specific methods. as an occasion, females can positioned on practically something, yet a guy could desire to lose his activity, kin, even his life, if he wore females's outfits in public. i think of i'm going to ask a question approximately this sometime. I additionally see how adult men can earnings financially from their education and artwork. many females nevertheless attempt to marry somebody who can help them. in spite of this, in the event that they do no longer earnings adequate financially from the marriage, and outlive their companion, then they could have little money, or education to place self assurance in whilst they become older. She will possibly no longer have had good paying jobs long adequate to get social protection so she could face poverty. it relatively is a hard question to answer, yet a good answer can help many human beings. perhaps the main suitable thank you to get by employing is to no longer hardship approximately issues you are able to no longer substitute and learn how to get alongside besides as you are able to with what you have obtainable (i.e. skills, know-how, possessions, regardless of.)

Answer 7

I strongly recommend the book ISHMAEL by Daniel Quinn to anyone interested in this topic.

In our culture man is seen as the great conquerer, the world was given to us do do with it as we please. This idea is repeated in many of the world's religeons and probably just gives man a good ego trip as well. This mindset is extremely detrimental as people everywhere justify the pointless destruction as our environment as "progress".

Answer 8

I think it's easier to disempower ourselves with flawed ideas rather than take and active, responsible roles in making the world a better place.

We're afraid, weak, fractured, isolated, divided, cold, jaded and apathetic because it hurts so much to do anything else.

I feel like I've become an outcast because I am self-empowered with honest, naked observation and inquiry to the purpose of our cosmologically improbable existence and refuse to subdue myself with drugs, religion, "social acceptance," or the myriad other excuses my "peers" throw at any light which threatens to penetrate their self-delusions.

My current line of work (Fuel Freedom International, more info on my 360 page) has really put the phenomena of our world ignorance to light. --My friends can spend $200 a night at the bar, but to spend $20 on and engine conditioner which which increases MPG and drastically decreases harmful emissions is unthinkable They all wish me luck and say it is a worthy cause, yet they refuse to participate. --I'm sorry to be plugging my business, but I totally am devoted to living as close to harmony as I can with our only planet. I think FFi is going to be huge in time and will use whatever resources I have towards creative ends to our destructive problems.

Answer 9

Our air, our water is much,much cleaner today then it was 40 years ago.

I'll bet the whole idea of the world coming to an end is exciting to you, ay?

Answer 10

Simple. Most of us don't believe we have to answer to anyone about this, especially to a higher being, or creator, if you will.

If you're not held accountable for your actions, you are free to do as you please, with no fear of repercussions.