“Essentially, overshoot is a crisis of human behaviour,” says Merz. “For decades we’ve been telling people to change their behaviour without saying: ‘Change your behaviour.’ We’ve been saying ‘be more green’ or ‘fly less’, but meanwhile all of the things that drive behaviour have been pushing the other way. All of these subtle cues and not so subtle cues have literally been pushing the opposite direction – and we’ve been wondering why nothing’s changing.”
The paper explores how neuropsychology, social signalling and norms have been exploited to drive human behaviours which grow the economy, from consuming goods to having large families. The authors suggest that ancient drives to belong in a tribe or signal one’s status or attract a mate have been co-opted by marketing strategiesto create behaviours incompatible with a sustainable world.
“People are the victims – we have been exploited to the point we are in crisis. These tools are being used to drive us to extinction,” says the evolutionary behavioural ecologist and study co-author Phoebe Barnard. “Why not use them to build a genuinely sustainable world?”
Just one-quarter of the world population is responsible for nearly three-quarters of emissions. The authors suggest the best strategy to counter overshoot would be to use the tools of the marketing, media and entertainment industries in a campaign to redefine our material-intensive socially accepted norms.
How do you do a root cause analysis of climate change and land on marketing?
missing the forest for a single sapling at the forest’s edge
Big brain science man’s epic solutions are population control and advertisements
Western science is always on the verge of rediscovering Marx, only to re-bury him the first chance they get
No one hates the left, they just hate that we’re right.
The authors suggest that ancient drives to belong in a tribe or signal one’s status or attract a mate have been co-opted by marketing strategies to create behaviours incompatible with a sustainable world.
why does it always veer off into this weird framing? You already had your explanation, it was so simple too! “People need to survive, the economic system makes that survival contingent on long-term destructive behaviors.” bam; concise and points to the root of the thing. What’s this weirdo “attract-a-mate tribal-psychology” gibberish? Are they trying to frame it the most crass and repulsive way possible? I mean, their “solution” is also crass and repulsive, so at least it matches.
I think they might be referring to some sort of macho anti-environmentalism. Where some men do anti-environmental behaviors because they think it makes them look sexy. Rizzler planet sizzlers.
… sorry you had to read that
that was also my read, more or less.
absolutely the mode of production is fucked and renders the choices of individuals relatively meaningless. however, the cultural influence of media and marketing also steers individuals away from sustainable choices. big trucks, SUVs, cheese-stuffed/ranch-soaked carnism every few hours, new/improved smart everything (e-waste being among the fastest growing portion of all toxic waste generated), cosmetics and microplastics, new clothes every season to be in style/current.
think about the phrase “treat yourself” and how the good faith interpretation is “do self-care”, but what it tends to mean in advertising is to satisfy your hedonism without concern for anything–including your own health or the well-being of anyone else–but the most base aesthetic pleasure and whim of the moment. there are medications for acid reflux, lactose intolerance, diabetes and heart disease, so eat the salty corn syrupy ice cream at bedtime. get the $12 caffeinated milkshake for breakfast. “because you deserve it”… the irony and cruelty of that statement!
generally speaking, i have only noticed the insidious nature of marketing/advertising when i have been away from it for long periods of time (several weeks), only to be suddenly confronted with it on my return and its cloying pressure to do and have a bunch of things i would have never thought about on my own.
You see, it’s everyone’s fault, you can’t blame the oil industry executives who are continuing to expand drilling operations despite knowing full well how their actions contribute to the severity of the climate crisis that’s barrelling towards us
muh human nature
at least he suggests we can change? he also thinks people do stuff because ads tell them to and not because they would anyway within capitalism due to the dominant ideology and mode of production.
The authors suggest the best strategy to counter overshoot would be to use the tools of the marketing, media and entertainment industries in a campaign to redefine our material-intensive socially accepted norms.
For fuck sake.
Isnt that just agitprop? Like they have brainworms clearly, but propaganda is useful.
why dont we just use ads suggesting people buy less stuff?
And what would give us the power to rationally define media and entertainment content, researchers? Can I just go and do that right now?
anything but “superstructure of capitalism”
Merz: “what is capitalism? I’ve never heard of it.”
How to debunk.
I want to live a more green lifestyle, but that eco-friendliness is reserved for the privilege. Suburbia is now where the poor live, disposable garbage products are only reserved for the poor, and car dependency is now “for poor people” since cities are now just seen as giant country clubs.
In the USA, a person who is homeless has a larger carbon footprint than scientists consider sustainable. There is literally no way for USians to change their behavior in a way that will have any impact. The solutions must be implemented by the federal government banning large scale industrial processes, ceasing war, and nationalizing production of necessities so that they can be localized.
“People are the victims – we have been exploited to the point we are in crisis. These tools are being used to drive us to extinction,” says the evolutionary behavioural ecologist and study co-author Phoebe Barnard. “Why not use them to build a genuinely sustainable world?”
Just one-quarter of the world population is responsible for nearly three-quarters of emissions. The authors suggest the best strategy to counter overshoot would be to use the tools of the marketing, media and entertainment industries in a campaign to redefine our material-intensive socially accepted norms.
Hmmmm I wonder why all these individual humans are engaging in damaging behaviour we should definitely try to nudge these individuals so they individually stop doing that individually. Oh boy it sure sucks that this is an issue of individuals doing bad stuff, if only the superstructure was inherently flawed, but it isn’t we’re just not using it right
Can’t be capitalism and its infinite growth mandate no siree
