It is easy to feel paralyzed and pessimistic when pondering the Anthropocene. With so much damage already done though carbon dioxide emissions and many complex and political issues ahead how could you not feel scared and overwhelmed? While I am often overwhelmed by the vastness of issues presented by the Anthropocene, a “perspective” contemplative practice completed in class helped me… Read more »
Image from: https://philosophersforchange.org/2012/06/05/philosophy-as-critique-and-ideology/. There are three common perspectives that people take on the world: optimism, pessimism, and realism. Of course, people are rarely ever strictly one thing, and will experience a mix of worldviews depending on their day and major life events. Why does it matter how we frame the water in the glass? The water remains the same amount whether it… Read more »
In an era of global citizenship, our president is putting “America First”. This simple slogan would be harmless if our actions did not have consequences that the rest of the world must bear. In reality, the United States is the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide. We are such a great contributor to the underlying causes of climate change that we… Read more »
While reading the assigned parts of Jeremy Rifkin’s Emphatic Civilization, I was struck by how his idea of humanity’s use of a “theatrical self” is applicable to the divide within America’s stance on climate change. Rifkin describes the theatrical self as a set of skills each person uses to adapt to a social situation. Each of us also possess a… Read more »
When deliberating in my head over what to do for an action project, I realized something rather frustrating. We’ve spent a significant amount of time in class discussing paralysis, and emotional processing throughout this time as the massive Anthropocene issue hangs above our heads like a guillotine slowly being released. These discussion points are important, of course. Once you are… Read more »
Reflecting back on my past conceptions of science, I cannot help but be overcome by a strong sense of guilt. Through my various science courses, I often championed the discipline as one that I could rely on solely because of its inherent objectivity. Science gave me truth, observable phenomena, and concrete answers. Reflecting back on my past conceptions of nature,… Read more »
Why do we ignore climate change? PBS’s, “It’s Okay To Be Smart” examines this conundrum. Our modern minds are equipped with stone age technology, deciphering today’s events with a dated and out of focus lens. Issues that demand our brains attention are personal, abrupt, immoral and are happening in the now. Climate change lacks these attention-grabbing characteristics, which allows our… Read more »
During the perspectives contemplative practice, I was shocked by the extent to which each perspective changed my emotions and physical sensations. The “we have no hope” perspective paralyzed me. The “world is getting better” perspective made me feel relaxed and relieved my sense of responsibility. The “things are what they are” perspective, however, was both the hardest perspective to take… Read more »
Over the past few weeks of deliberation, my group has struggled with determining the best method of action. We are planning to portray the impacts of climate change on a local level. Specifically, we will take photos of iconic Seattle sites and couple them a paragraph discussing what will happen to them or what they represent. What makes Seattleites feel… Read more »
* Not all of us have access to a magic school bus capable of shape-shifting. Nor can we guide eight wide-eyed students (“pupils with dilated pupils”?) through the human body for a lesson on digestion. Not everyone has the budget for such far-out field trips, let alone the permission to keep an uncaged lizard in the classroom. Nah, Ms. Frizzle… Read more »