Dealing with denial

From global warming to fluoride: Why do people deny science? (Click here to read more)

The potent combination of our powerful intelligence with our massive reality denial has led to a dangerous world

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Ajit Varki and Danny Brower
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The potent combination of our powerful intelligence with our massive reality denial has led to a dangerous world. Less obvious, but in the long term more dangerous, are threats resulting directly or indirectly from technological developments that have permitted us to increase our numbers well beyond the carrying capacity of the natural world. More efficient agriculture and the invention of artificial fertilizers permitted humans to produce food sufficient to support numbers that would be unthinkable for other animals of our physical size. Public health measures, vaccinations, antibiotics, and other medical advances also permitted population numbers to explode. The world is overpopulated already and is becoming more so at an alarming rate. And although we pay lip service to the resulting problems, we do relatively little to address their root causes. Indeed, some religions continue to promote the unrestrained propagation of their flocks. Planet Earth is sick, with a bad case of "infection by humans." In fact, as far as the other species on the planet are concerned, we humans are like the rapaciously invasive conglomerate of aliens called the Borg in the classic TV series "Star Trek" - a race that indiscriminately assimilates and takes over anything and everything it encounters. The motto of the Borg is "Resistance is futile." And indeed, for all other species on Planet Earth, resistance is futile when faced with humans! The exceptions, of course, are the microbes that infect us (such as tuberculosis, HIV, and malaria), which are also spreading just fine, thank you. As explained by environmental activist Paul Gilding in "The Great Disruption": "We have now reached a moment where four words - the earth is full - will define our times. This is not a philosophical statement; this is just science based in physics, chemistry and biology … To keep operating at our current level, we need 50 percent more Earth than we've got."
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The most dramatic consequence, of course, is the effect we are having on the atmosphere and the climate. Besides the very public efforts of Al Gore, many writers have spoken out about this vital issue, including Scientific American editor Fred Guterl. "The Fate of the Species: Why the Human Race May Cause Its Own Extinction and How We Can Stop It" describes climate change as one of the most pressing dangers to the human species. But while this has become a popular topic of discussion, few are willing to make the major lifestyle changes necessary to reverse it. The government of the country that is one of the biggest per-capita culprits (the United States) now at least acknowledges the reality of global climate change-but still refuses to face up to the problem. The energy platforms of major political candidates for leadership positions in the United States carefully ignore or minimize attention to this politically charged issue. And the same is true of the other major contributors to the problem, such as those companies that extract more and more fossil fuels from the earth yet run misleading advertising campaigns that claim that they really do care about the environment. Even worse, the melting of Arctic ice has given many countries the impetus to prospect for more fossil fuels in that pristine wilderness.
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Why is it that ordinary citizens do not sit up and take notice of the danger? Unfortunately, the focus remains mostly on "global warming" instead of on the bigger concern-that we are disrupting the planet's climate in completely unpredictable ways. Because climate prediction includes a significant degree of scientific uncertainty, this has allowed skeptics to gain the upper hand and even corner some expert scientists into difficult positions. A friend in the climate research field privately admits that he and most of his colleagues are afraid to stand up and speak out because of the vituperative attacks and massive smear campaigns that they would inevitably suffer-as did Michael Mann and others. But much research indicates that as forests disappear and polar ice caps melt, etc., there are unpredictable feedback mechanisms that will make global warming increasingly difficult to tackle. Even more worrisome, there will likely be a tipping point after which continued warming may become irreversible, no matter what we do. Of course, other scenarios are also possible. For example, it is plausible that we could instead tip the planet into an ice age. The Hollywood movie "The Day After Tomorrow" took a reasonably valid climate change model that is possible over a sixty-year span and instead told a story in which it happened in six weeks. This made it easy for viewers to deny the possibility that this could ever actually happen.
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