Sir, – Minister for Climate Eamon Ryan notes a possible sense of doom for some in relation to climate action (“Sense of doom around climate action, says Ryan”, News, June 2nd), even though, as William Reville points out, “human ingenuity has the potential to get us past global warming” (“Sucking carbon from the air to help control global warming”, Science & Climate, June 2nd).
Climate change is an issue of the greatest magnitude but, as humans, we choose which worries we linger on based on factors other than size of risk.
We worry that large corporations steal our data. We linger on this concern not only because it is legitimate, but also because we like the subtext: our data is valuable. (I didn’t know I had “data” until I was told someone stole it. Now I want it back.)
We worry that new technologies steal our attention and make us more distracted, even though long-term studies do not prove increased distractibility.
Markets in Vienna or Christmas at The Shelbourne? 10 holiday escapes over the festive season
Ciara Mageean: ‘I just felt numb. It wasn’t even sadness, it was just emptiness’
Stealth sackings: why do employers fire staff for minor misdemeanours?
Carl and Gerty Cori: a Nobel Prizewinning husband and wife team
We linger on this concern because it feels true, and we like the subtext: our attention is valuable.
Climate change is an even greater threat, but we do not linger on this concern because the subtext is negative: we are destroying our planet.
We are not wrong to worry, but we distribute our worry-time worryingly.
Flipping subtext is not impossible. We have archetypes to draw upon: many ancient myths and superhero stories centre on saving the world. It’s our turn now. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN KELLY,
Professor of Psychiatry,
Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin 2.