I have been thinking a lot recently about how I write my blog and how I can find a better balance. I do want to discuss the problems we face in this increasingly chaotic world. However I also want to encourage people to get active.

Too much reality and it reduces people to apathy – too few facts and they don’t believe the situation is serious.

I ask myself what should I do? As a scientist I try to tell the truth and to do my research diligently. However if that means folks stop reading my blogs then it is all pointless. Not an easy decision!

A change in my thinking

All this thinking about thinking has led me down some interesting paths. I realized that actually humanity doesn’t know how or what to think about the chaos we have created. What is required, I believe, is that we change our thinking. What kind of future are we planning? Have we even thought about the future? Have we talked to each other about the problems?

Certainly the scientists are pretty clear about the facts now. We know that humans on this planet are burning fossil fuels in the shape of coal, oil and gas. This produces a great deal of carbon dioxide. That gas, among others, is sitting in our atmosphere retaining the sun’s heat and warming the Earth beyond a reasonable point. This creates even more challenges for the inhabitants of our world.

What we don’t seem to know is how to bring together a massive movement of people that will convince our governments to act urgently. Persuading people to change to create a better future for their families is the other side of the coin. Obviously it needs both.

It is clear that we know what the problems are. What is more we are starting to develop some pretty amazing technology to help us adapt to the challenges we face. The speed of production and the brilliance of some of these technologies gives us some reason to hope. However the situation will not improve fast enough if we don’t change our lifestyles. towards a more sustainable future.

It is important that all of us learn to think and act differently

We are just not moving with the required speed to get that state of affairs under control. Learning to think in a different way about our actions could make all the difference.

As Albert Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”. Learning to think more deeply and constructively is urgent.

Time is of the Essence

The Need to Change our Economic system

What we do know is that our problems are caused by our lifestyles and the Capitalist system that governs them.

This can be defined as “an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.“

This system has created great wealth and power for a very few people. It has lifted millions out of absolute poverty. Nevertheless as Jacobin Magazine has said it has “created an obscene explosion of global inequality”.

What is perhaps less talked about is its effect on our values, our thinking, and on our happiness. Sadly, modern-day values are very bad for the planet.

Capitalism is based on economic growth. So it requires ever-increasing demand to be able to create profits. In other words an endless production of stuff which requires us as customers. Stuff that the manufacturers have persuaded us that we need, but really we just want, desire and lust after!

Capitalism has produced a society that is based on consumption – a never-ending desire for more. We live in societies of deep inequality, individualism, greed and competitiveness. We live lives of striving to acquire what our neighbours have. This brings us exhaustion from long hours of work to pay for that more. It brings alienation from our fellow human beings and terrible loneliness, serious debt and an emptiness of soul. What it does to our societies can be seen daily in the newspaper. We may think we are happy but deep down we are struggling.

William Wordsworth wrote a poem about this in 1802. It shows even then that we were losing ourselves in consumption and loss of Nature:

Getting and Spending

We Need a Re-think

But as Einstein says, to change all that we need to learn to think in a different and deeper way. 

Is that happening? We are realising that not only is Capitalism failing the planet and all its inhabitants very badly. But it also affects our mental health and well-being. There is also increasing evidence from the scientific community that humanity needs something different.

For example:

A recent article in the Atlantic magazine based on a study by Harvard University found that “good relationships lead to health and happiness.” Perhaps not what one might have thought in a capitalist society.

There has been considerable research recently about how we might change our economic system and what that might lead to. An organisation called the Well-Being Economy Alliance has been looking at that. A Well-being Economy is not simply a different economic system. It involves a shift in how we seek to live together. It moves us from from seeing ourselves as owners and consumers toward being caretakers and creators of a flourishing world.

This article shows that “Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in Nature has a profound impact on our brains and our behaviour, helping us to reduce anxiety, brooding, and stress, and increase our attention capacity, creativity and our ability to connect with other people.”

Other scientific research shows the importance of community: “One of the important social determinants of well-being is a sense of community connectedness and belonging… [These] feelings of being a part of a larger group of individuals are thought to be basic human needs.”

So, it seems then that our thinking as Capitalists is not making us happy. Neither is it able to help us change to a more sustainable and happier lifestyle for all.

It is clear we need an existence that is about being, not having. It should also be one that is full of compassion, warm relationships, the sense of belonging created by being a part of a community and a love of Nature.

How Do We Get There?

One of the interesting paths I wandered down led me to something called the Inner Development Goals Framework.

These were developed, initially in Sweden, to help the UN reach its Sustainability Goals. These sustainability goals were designed to make the world a better place for everybody. They include ending hunger, promoting well-being for all and ensuring healthy lives etc. These must be achieved within limits that the planet can sustain.

The Inner Development Goals were created to help us all deal with the complex challenges we face. They say that “without a foundational shift in human values and leadership capacities, external solutions to our global challenges may be limited, too slow or short-lived”.

In other words, for us to have a liveable future, each of us needs to learn to think differently. We need to learn about openness and authenticity, critical thinking, caring for others and compassion, trust and courage to mention but a few of their ideas.

Please have a look at their website. I found it very inspiring.

I hope this Blog encourages you to ask yourself ” how can I change how I think about the future?” “How can I work towards a better future for young people?” “Can I change me to be open to a different way of thinking?”

Thank you.

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Photos from Unsplash courtesy of processingly, Ales Krivec and Heidi Fin.