Thursday, Jun 4

Welcome to Your Daily Dot where Dot will share tips, advice, and stories on how we can make our world better.

All Dear Dot illustrations by Elissa Turnbull.

Dear Reader,

Many years ago, Dot read about a study indicating that our understanding of how to shift people’s behaviour had it all wrong. We typically think that, in order to get people to make different choices, we need to change their minds about something first. So, in the climate world, if we wanted people to, say, drive less, we needed to convince them to think of themselves as an environmentalist because an environmentalist would drive less. But what these researchers discovered was that, at least sometimes, the behaviour came first and the changed beliefs later. People might drive less because transit is cheaper or because traffic makes cycling more convenient. And then, once they see themselves as someone who drives less, they’re more likely to think of themselves as climate-concerned or an environmentalist.

Which is why Burkman’s quote resonated with me. It feels counterintuitive. (He’s talking about anxiety and avoiding feelings of dread by accepting how little control we actually have, but I nonetheless think his argument holds in an environmental context.) We don’t have to believe that by, say, eating less meat, we’re saving the world. We can know just that it’s easier on our wallets and healthier for our bodies. And then we discover that we’re also saving the world. We didn’t start out as heroes, it’s just a consequence of making choices that hew toward our values. 

Actively,

Dot

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