[This seems a possible application of James's "moral equivalent" idea: if we can persuade ourselves to buy into the story of eco-friendliness on a large scale, we will have found a force other than war "that can discipline a whole community" and we will change society.]
"We need to stay away from the apocalyptic thinking that it's too late and the world is ending and move toward a more practical thing: 2 percent of the budget."
"...Many of the philosophical questions that have bothered humanity for thousands of years are now becoming practical. Previously philosophy was a kind of luxury: You can indulge in it or not. Now you really need to answer crucial philosophical questions about what humanity is or the nature of the good in order to decide what to do with, for example, new biotechnologies. So maybe I've reached people because I've come from the perspective of history and philosophy and not biology or economics. Also, my most central idea is simple. It's the primacy of fictions, that to understand the world you need to take stories seriously. The story in which you believe shapes the society that you create..." nyt mag
According to the best reports I've read, if we now start investing 2 percent of global annual G.D.P. in developing eco-friendly technologies and eco-friendly infrastructure, that should be enough to prevent catastrophic climate change.
"...Many of the philosophical questions that have bothered humanity for thousands of years are now becoming practical. Previously philosophy was a kind of luxury: You can indulge in it or not. Now you really need to answer crucial philosophical questions about what humanity is or the nature of the good in order to decide what to do with, for example, new biotechnologies. So maybe I've reached people because I've come from the perspective of history and philosophy and not biology or economics. Also, my most central idea is simple. It's the primacy of fictions, that to understand the world you need to take stories seriously. The story in which you believe shapes the society that you create..." nyt mag
“The story in which you believe shapes the society that you create…” This statement holds a lot of weight, especially in today’s political climate. Many of our greatest issues are products of a divided belief system. The example provided in the passage, climate change, is a good example.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we shouldn’t live in such a “Fantasyland.”