Climate Change and Attitude Change
“The last half century has seen a dramatic change in the public opinion on the environmental and climate, indeed on the whole Earth’s condition and course. This shift in the way the world and its inhabitants are viewed, is an <<Ecological revolution>> on par with the Copernican revolution, and like it influenced by new concepts and tenets from the international community of scholars.
“However, people are notoriously loath to alter their outlooks and opinions. Hence it is argued that the major shift in people’s mindsets has been driven by events resulting from human activities. Seven such events and their aftershocks are discussed – momentous occurrences which became moments of truth as well as of decision.
“Resistance to change is explained in terms of what is called the double embedding of attitudes – i.e. that they are lodged in logical lattices as well as in social networks. Both layers are perturbed by dramatic events. When the logical links are severed and social relations unhinged, they can be reconfigured, provoking a revision of conventional wisdom and set ways of behavior.”
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Image from Hot Topic – Cold Comfort’s front cover designed by jnd.no