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Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

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Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#51

Post by ruined »

nimvlaj30 wrote: post #23
lisper wrote: post #4

It's not just young people. I'm 56 and I'm going through a pretty serious personal existential crisis w.r.t. climate change. I think even the people who are worried about it don't realize quite how serious the situation is. I used to feel pretty confident that all of the really bad shit would not happen until after I was dead. I'm not nearly so confident any more. I now think there is a significant chance that I coul…

> God grant me the serenity > to accept the things I cannot change; > courage to change the things I can; > and wisdom to know the difference. Civilisation as we know it, and perhaps even humanity is in the process of ending. The ending is inevitable, whether it is now or nearer to the heat death of the universe. If you can personally try and affect change, then you should do it. But more likely, you are a slave to t…

if this is your attitude then at least get out of the way

Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#52

Post by Aerroon »

changoplatanero wrote: post #3

Most smokers are unable to quit. Most fat people are unable to lose weight. I worry that most civilizations are unable to cut carbon emissions.

The difference between these is that stopping smoking and losing weight make your life overall better. Reducing carbon emissions will make life worse for everyone who's already on the lower rungs of humanity. No realistic amount of resource redistribution is going to work here.

It's also not enough. We will have to start sucking up that carbon from the atmosphere whether we cut emissions or not.

Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#53

Post by throwawaysea »

tibbetts wrote: post #18
throwawaysea wrote: post #13

Young people are also exposed to immense echo chambers that operate as runaway feedback loops, which manipulate their emotions, political views, and so on. This leads to extreme perspectives that are detached from reality. These two paragraphs from the article demonstrate this: > Positive feelings such as optimism were reported least among the respondents, researchers said. In fact, 77% said that they considered the…

Those perspectives can be said to be extreme, but I’m not seeing you make a case that they are “detached from reality.”

Humanity isn’t “doomed”. Climate change may affect hundreds of millions and even so it is far away from an existential threat to humans. It also isn’t something that should cause someone to lose the ability to function day-to-day. That suggests immaturity, fragility, and a cognitive distortion (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/catastrophizing).

Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#54

Post by Manuel_D »

> 56% agreed with the viewpoint that humanity is doomed, according to the study.

Climate change is a serious issue, and one that stands poised to do a substantial amount of harm, but if the majority of young people think that humanity is doomed then I seriously suspect that there's misinformation about the impact of climate change at play here. Even the more pessimistic outlooks of climate change still leave substantial areas of habitable climate. Many societies would be harmed, and disproportionately among lower income equatorial countries, but I think it's a massive stretch to say that humanity is doomed based on our climate projections.

Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#55

Post by nefitty »

tibbetts wrote: post #32
AniseAbyss wrote: post #21

Atheist without kids so I'll live. No skin in the game. But I was somewhat shocked when I saw people taking their family to see formula 1 cars drive laps in a national park. When you're not even willing to give up little things like motorsports or plastic straws this planet is about to be recycled.

The idea that personal choices about straws or motorsports are an important or effective response to climate change is a fallacy encouraged by organizations who benefit from climate change. If it’s all about consumer choice, then real reform will never happen.

By that logic, anxiety is irrational. Acceptance of any outcome should be what we work on internally as individuals. Anger is arguably a much more productive emotion, politically speaking.

Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#56

Post by sentinel »

changoplatanero wrote: post #3

Most smokers are unable to quit. Most fat people are unable to lose weight. I worry that most civilizations are unable to cut carbon emissions.

It’s already happening, a lot of countries are cutting down carbon emissions.

Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#57

Post by Shicholas »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #36
mc32 wrote: post #22

I'm sure people are frustrated, but I wonder what the consensus, if you could fine one, would be. What exactly are they expecting governments to change? Policy, power generation, transportation, what? And will they accept the necessary or resultant policies and changes? The above are "easy" if you have a totalitarian regime where what the autocrats say go, goes: China, Saudi Arabia, etc., most other countries are mor…

Tax carbon. Use cross border tariffs to prevent offshoring emissions. People will then make the economically rational decision to use public transportation, buy EVs, put solar on the roof, insulate their homes, buy heat pumps, and eat less meat.

This is the best solution for today’s world. I wish I could upvote this a million times.

Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#58

Post by theduder99 »

throwawaysea wrote: post #39
ddoolin wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes young people more exposed to echo chambers (and why more immense?) than older adults? Younger people seem to me to be more likely to be exposed to more new people, more new ideas, and more diversity of opinions than adults.

Young people, such as those belonging to Gen Z, spend far more time on social media relative to other age groups and did not experience a non-digital world at all (unlike millennials and earlier generations). I also think they are less exposed to new ideas or a diversity of opinions - college campuses are culturally and politically far more monolithic than ever before, and are incredibly hostile to free speech and di…

same reason hackernews has been declining for years

Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#59

Post by sremani »

Today Paul Graham has tweeted about coal consumption of the world from 2000, it paints a good picture where to look if you are focused on green house gases.

150 years ago, there are billion of us. Now we are 7 billion going up to 9 billion.. 150 years from now, if we are going to be a billion.. I am fine with it.

Re: Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change, Say Governments Are Failing Them

#60

Post by pstuart »

ruined wrote: post #51
nimvlaj30 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> God grant me the serenity > to accept the things I cannot change; > courage to change the things I can; > and wisdom to know the difference. Civilisation as we know it, and perhaps even humanity is in the process of ending. The ending is inevitable, whether it is now or nearer to the heat death of the universe. If you can personally try and affect change, then you should do it. But more likely, you are a slave to t…

if this is your attitude then at least get out of the way

The thought that came to mind was "ok boomer".

Edit: yeah, not positive but a knee-jerk reaction to the grandparent comment that essentially said "I got mine, Jack -- sucks to be you".

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