Making People Consider Their Legacy Is The Secret To Making People Care About Hotcoldwetdry

by William Teach | January 4, 2016 7:46 am

More psychological claptrap from the Cult of Climastrology, as explained by two youngsters

Here’s the secret to making people care about climate change[1]
Make them think about their legacy.

Here’s a depressing statistic if you’re worried about climate change: 63 percent[2] of Americans say they’re concerned about the issue, but only 47 percent [3]think the government should do anything about it.

That divide, known as the “attitude-behavior” gap, isn’t all that uncommon. And activists and politicians have tried all kinds of strategies to address it. They’ve appealed to people’s better nature (“Help save the children!”) and to their self-interest (“You’ll get a tax write-off!”).

Each of these methods can work under certain conditions, but both have their limitations. What if there were a way to combine the best aspects of each — to use an appeal that simultaneously targets self-interest and our desire to help others in need? Our research suggests a promising way to do just that — by encouraging people to consider their own future legacy.

It’s so easy! Why haven’t Warmists been doing this? Oh, right, they have been. For 25+ years they’ve trotted out this position, that we need to Do Something in order to protect the future.

Philosophers, religious figures, and others have long recognized the role that a desire to be remembered positively can play in motivating beneficence and kindness toward others. These self-serving desires are often harnessed to great effect in politics; our research suggests that their reach could be much wider with a little creativity and effort.

Unfortunately for these researchers, a goodly chunk of people will think “my kids and future generations will think I’m an idiot for Doing Something about anthropogenic climate change, damaging the economy, increasing the cost of living, and putting massive restrictions on their lives, all for an issue which was never proven scientifically.”

This dovetails nicely with the recent pushes on how to Make People Care in other ways, because providing actual facts has been a loser, because the facts are less than reality, and all the future DOOmmongering has failed.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[4]. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach[5].