Dear Climate: You Don’t Scare Us!

A Climate Change analogy to ponder over pancakes…and syrup

Based on our track record, humans seem unwilling or unable to address climate change in a meaningful way. Previously I explored how both business and government have sabotaged progress but now it’s time to take a look in the mirror and ask: Does the problem lie with us?

Why do we essentially sit back and watch the climate slowly lose its ability to provide for us? Are we a flawed species or are we just doing what nature prepared us to do?

Human evolution has conveniently provided us with a system for self preservation. A system that has been hardwired deep into our brains to protect us from immediate danger, and despite some close calls, it’s what has kept our species alive since before we came down from the trees — 4–6 million years ago. So I think it’s fair to say that we’re on a pretty good run. But much of our threat response is beyond our control. Our central nervous system operates on an unconscious level and when a threat is detected our brains release a massive amount…