Planet under Pressure

through their lives embracing the most
blatant of contradictions without so
much as batting an eyelid. The human
ideal based on a desire to live without
contradiction has seeped its way into our
collective mindset from the theories of
moral philosophy and theology, but in
truth it is a complete falsity. Our behavior
varies wildly in different situations, as
the requirements that are set of us in our
jobs, in sports, within our families, and
among our friends vary, and because the
roles we are expected to fill are constantly
changing. The functional differentiation
found in societies based on the division
of labor has produced a human character
that is highly adaptable and capable of
taking on changing – and often even
contradictory – roles with aplomb. The
sociologist Erving Goffman devoted his
life’s work to demonstrating this and
deciphering the social choreography
that governs the relationships, roles, and
performances of its participants. Ignoring
borderline pathological actions, it makes
no sense to place human activity in a
context that does not take into account
the situation in which it occurs. In turn,
modern societies are incapable of dealing
with normal pathology. Someone who
always has the same response to different
requirements in different situations will
soon end up in a secure psychiatric unit.
Human adaptability is not pathological
variation. Instead, it is precisely what
all social and educational institutions
produce in modern societies because
they need adaptability in order to function.
Moral convictions do not guide
our behavior, but rather show us what
justifications we can use to bring our
incorrect actions into line with a correct
consciousness.
added texture by the cultural and social
framework of our existence, and its rules
are so effective at determining our reality
because they are almost never the
product of conscious consideration. It is
impossible to criticize or cast into doubt
something of which you are not aware.
The social rules of our everyday lives
by no means form the sole unconscious
backdrop to our values and expectations.
Modern societies, in particular, are
structured from top to bottom through
all manner of rules, regulations, and
infrastructure. The “assumptive world”
(Alfred Schütz) in which we live confers
cultural obligations upon us and
generates bonds of which we are also
not aware. Every culture provides its
members with standards of behavior,
expectations, and emotions, all of which
are only effective because we tend not
to ever call them into question. That is
why efforts to change such standards are
so ineffective if the approach is purely
cognitive – in other words, if they focus
on areas where people can draw on
conscious experience. Because habits and
idiosyncrasies go beyond any threshold
of consciousness, it is often futile to
appeal to a sense of understanding and
reason. According to Kant, the world
only functions in the tiny segment of
reality that covers wakeful consciousness.
Understanding rarely influences
our behavior because behavior is rarely
based on understanding.
Reactance
Significant socio-psychological events
such as these generate a peculiar tension
between bad news, such as the latest
climate data, and the reality in which
we live. Every date, every diagram, every
passionate plea from climate scientists
such as Mojib Latif and Hans Joachim
Schellnhuber is interpreted as a threat
to our way of life. The more seriously
they are taken, the less indifferent their
impact. Paradoxically, negative headlines
from the scientific world have an effect
that is the complete opposite of the one
intended: Instead of encouraging us to
change our lifestyles and cultural models,
fear and an aversion to loss cause us to
cling to them even more and attempt
to extract every last drop. How else can
we explain why cars have become larger
and more resource-intensive, instead
of smaller and more efficient, since
the problem of climate change reared
Understanding rarely
influences our
behavior because
behavior is rarely
based on
understanding.
Routines and habits – in other words,
“mental infrastructure” – are further
factors that guide our day-to-day actions.
Very little of what we do is the result of
our conscious decisions. In fact, our actions
are predetermined by the material
and cultural standards that make up
the world in which we live. The world
in which we grow up in is the world
we perceive unquestioningly. It is given
74 Global Goals Yearbook 2020