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Powell's Books: You'll Want to Bookmark This Page: 37 of Our Most Anticipated Books for Spring and Summer 2021 (1 comment)
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Don't Even Think about It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change

by George Marshall
Don't Even Think about It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change

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ISBN13: 9781620401330
ISBN10: 1620401339



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Synopses & Reviews

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Most of us recognize that climate change is real, and yet we do nothing to stop it. What is this psychological mechanism that allows us to know something is true but act as if it is not? George Marshalls search for the answers brings him face to face with Nobel Prize-winning psychologists and the activists of the Texas Tea Party; the worlds leading climate scientists and the people who denounce them; liberal environmentalists and conservative evangelicals. What he discovered is that our values, assumptions, and prejudices can take on lives of their own, gaining authority as they are shared, dividing people in their wake.

With engaging stories and drawing on years of his own research, Marshall argues that the answers do not lie in the things that make us different and drive us apart, but rather in what we all share: how our human brains are wired—our evolutionary origins, our perceptions of threats, our cognitive blindspots, our love of storytelling, our fear of death, and our deepest instincts to defend our family and tribe. Once we understand what excites, threatens, and motivates us, we can rethink and reimagine climate change, for it is not an impossible problem. Rather, it is one we can halt if we can make it our common purpose and common ground. Silence and inaction are the most persuasive of narratives, so we need to change the story.

In the end, Dont Even Think About It is both about climate change and about the qualities that make us human and how we can grow as we deal with the greatest challenge we have ever faced.

Review

"Clearly we're not responding to the reality of climate change with the speed the crisis requires. This book explains some of the reasons that could be--and how we might work around them in the short time that we have." —Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth   "Illuminating and important—makes clear why we continue down a dangerous path of increasing climate disruption, even when attractive, hospitable, alternative paths are available." —James Hansen, author of Storms of My Grandchildren and Former Director of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Review

"[Marshall] offers advice on confronting climate change head on, stepping away from Green Guilt, and putting potentially world-saving policies into action." —The Boston Globe "Intelligent and genial . . . In the end, Marshall is neither fatalistic nor idealistic about our chances of survival. Yes, he says, were wired to ignore climate change. But were also wired to do something about it." —Washington Post "Clearly we're not responding to the reality of climate change with the speed the crisis requires. This book explains some of the reasons that could be—and how we might work around them in the short time that we have." —Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth   "The science of climate change is easy: burning fossil fuels creates greenhouse gasses that are warming our world. George Marshall reminds us about the hard part: connecting the wellhead to the tailpipe in peoples minds as soon as possible. Please read this book, and think about it. Lets get to work." —Bill Nye "Illuminating and important—makes clear why we continue down a dangerous path of increasing climate disruption, even when attractive, hospitable, alternative paths are available." —James Hansen, author of Storms of My Grandchildren and Former Director of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies "George Marshall is one of the most interesting, challenging and original thinkers on the psychology of our collective climate denial. If his advice were heeded, we might just have the courage to look unblinkingly at this existential crisis, and then to act." —Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine "Enlightening." —Publishers Weekly "A real soul searching challenge for us all. Marshall illuminates the path to embarking on a heroic quest for a just and equitable world. A sobering, yet hopeful book." —Frank DiSalvo, Director of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University "In 42 engaging, bite-size chapters, Marshall presents the psychological research demonstrating why climate change simply doesnt feel dangerous enough to justify action and how we can trick our brains into changing our sense of urgency about the problem. His work is a much needed kick in the pants for policymakers, grassroots environmentalists, and the public to induce us to develop effective motivational tools to help us take action to face the reality of climate change before its too late." —Booklist "Fantastic." —Grist

"Essential reading for everyone interested in communicating the science of climate change and its urgent policy implications." —Critical Angle "This is not a book to read and put away—but one that merits returning to and engaging with intellectually. Is there a higher compliment that one can give an author?" —Daily Kos "Absorbing, all-embracing, immensely readable." —Climate News Network

Synopsis

A witty, insightful, and original take on one of the most urgent questions of our time: For those of us who believe climate change is real, why do we so easily ignore it?

Synopsis

An Esquire Essential Book on Climate Change

From the founder of the Climate Outreach and Information Network, a groundbreaking take on the most urgent question of our time: Why, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, do we still ignore climate change?

"Please read this book, and think about it." --Bill Nye

Most of us recognize that climate change is real, and yet we do nothing to stop it. What is this psychological mechanism that allows us to know something is true but act as if it is not? George Marshall's search for the answers brings him face to face with Nobel Prize-winning psychologists and the activists of the Texas Tea Party; the world's leading climate scientists and the people who denounce them; liberal environmentalists and conservative evangelicals. What he discovered is that our values, assumptions, and prejudices can take on lives of their own, gaining authority as they are shared, dividing people in their wake.

With engaging stories and drawing on years of his own research, Marshall argues that the answers do not lie in the things that make us different and drive us apart, but rather in what we all share: how our human brains are wired--our evolutionary origins, our perceptions of threats, our cognitive blindspots, our love of storytelling, our fear of death, and our deepest instincts to defend our family and tribe. Once we understand what excites, threatens, and motivates us, we can rethink and reimagine climate change, for it is not an impossible problem. Rather, it is one we can halt if we can make it our common purpose and common ground. Silence and inaction are the most persuasive of narratives, so we need to change the story.

In the end, Don't Even Think About It is both about climate change and about the qualities that make us human and how we can grow as we deal with the greatest challenge we have ever faced.

Synopsis

What is this psychological mechanism that allows us to know something is true but act as if it is not? In this groundbreaking and engaging look at one of the most important issues facing us today, George Marshall, known for his work on the psychology of climate change denial, shows that even when we accept that climate change is a dire problem, our human brains are wired to ignore it—and argues that we can overcome this.

With engaging stories and drawing on years of his own research, Marshall confirms that humans are wired to respond strongest to threats that are visible, immediate, have historical precedent, have direct personal impact, and are caused by an “enemy.” Climate change is none of these—its invisible, unprecedented, drawn out, impacts us indirectly, and is caused by us. Taking the reader deep into our evolutionary origins, Marshall argues that once we understand what excites, threatens, and motivates us, we can rethink and reimagine climate change. In the end, his book is both about climate change and about the qualities that make us human: our limitations, our strengths, and how we can grow as we deal with the greatest challenge we have ever faced.

Synopsis

A witty, insightful, and groundbreaking take on one of the most urgent questions of our time: Why, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, do we still ignore climate change?

About the Author

George Marshall is the founder of the Climate Outreach and Information Network, based in Oxford UK, and over the past 25 years has worked at all levels of theenvironmental movement including senior positions for Greenpeace US and the Rainforest Foundation. He is one of the leading European experts in climate change communications, is a lead advisor to the Welsh Government, and counts major environmental organizations, politicians, faith groups, businesses, and trades unions among his clients. He lives in Wales. His website is http://climatedenial.org/.

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`
markarena , September 06, 2014
In this timely and urgently needed book, George Marshall sets out to answer several questions that he poses in the opening chapter: “What explains out ability to separate what we know from what we believe, to put aside the things that seem too painful to accept? How is it possible, when presented with the evidence of our own eyes, that we can deliberately ignore something ��" while being entirely aware that this is what we are doing?” Over the course of the book, he explores many of the psychological and social traits that served us well over millions of years of our physical evolution on the savannas of Africa, but which are not serving us so well now, as we face perhaps the greatest existential threat to our civilization. Some of these traits include confirmation bias, present (time) focus, social conformity, group think, procrastination, valuing the messenger over the message, and the different functioning of our rational and emotional brains. He explores these issues with several psychologists and sociologists, who generally believe that climate change is “a threat that our evolved brains are uniquely unsuited to do a damned thing about”, as put by Harvard Professor of Psychology Daniel Gilbert. However, in order to gain the widest possible perspective on these issues, he immerses himself into cultures that many environmentalists would consider the belly of the beast of denialism, such as Tea Party meetings and evangelical church congregations. That he is able to discover important lessons on climate change communication from such unlikely sources is a testament to his open mindedness and humility. He also points out many of the approaches that environmental activists take that are proving to be counterproductive, if the goal is to move beyond preaching to the choir and encourage a mass movement to address climate change. Perhaps the most important of these is the tendency of environmentalists to adhere to the “information deficit” model of social change, which is the belief that if just the right information is provided to people, that they will see the light and act upon that knowledge. Much of the content of the book is showing just how completely untrue this is. He emphasizes that since the early days of climate change awareness, the policy focus has been on reducing emissions at the tailpipe, or smokestack, and not at the well-head or mine. This framing has hampered the ability to develop truly effective solutions, as policies should ideally address impacts at both ends of the carbon chain. He discusses how the framing of climate change as primarily an environmental issue was an early error of activists and environmental organizations. Those whose social groups reject environmentalism as mainly the purview of egg-headed liberal elites (e.g. Al Gore), have come to distrust the message of human caused climate change because they distrust the messengers. The way in which climate change has become politicized hampers the ability of people who are not environmental activists to accept it. The author does provide recommendations for effective climate change communication, but without giving away the punchline, this quote on the need to engage both the rational and emotional aspects of our psyches sums them up well: “So, advocates for action on climate change have to do everything they can to speak to both. They need to maintain enough data and evidence to satisfy the rational mind that they are a credible source. They then need to translate that data into a form that will engage and motivate the emotional brain using the tools of immediacy, proximity, social meaning, stories and metaphors that draw on personal experience.” The book is well structured, with many easy to read short chapters that make for easy pacing. He also provides two summary chapters that distill the many points he makes, which I found very useful. I believe this book is a must read for everyone involved in communicating about this “wicked” problem, as he puts it. I propose that we place copies of this book in time capsules around the world, in case our civilization does not heed the messages of this book, at least future survivors will know why.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9781620401330
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
08/19/2014
Publisher:
BLOOMSBURY BOOKS
Pages:
260
Height:
.94IN
Width:
6.50IN
Thickness:
1.00
Author:
George Marshall
Author:
George Marshall
Subject:
Global Warming & Climate Change

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