(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . For the Second Time in My Life, SILENCE =DEATH [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-15 For the Second Time in My Life, SILENCE=DEATH* Back before the days of PCs, cell phones and social media there was a phenomenon called ‘word of mouth’ and looking back now from the perspective of hyper-technological communications, it is shocking to realize how effective it was.Although Hollywood created a lot of press to promote a new film, what really got people into the theater in droves was ‘word of mouth’. For most of our history, rumors have spread this way fast enough to ruin someone from one day to the next and with world population being generally illiterate for most of our history, information could still spread over great distances surprisingly fast.I have read that Galileo recreated the newly invented telescope from information that filtered through the European scientific community in this fashion. It is ironic that with our modes of communication being exponentially greater than just a generation ago, such a huge portion of the population remains largely ignorant about the current facts constituting climate knowledge.There are many reasons for this, chief among them being the primacy of daily demands and the blinders of denial.Disinformation shares a great deal of blame by muddying the waters, but just as responsible is our over-all unwillingness to talk about the climate emergency which effectively silences ‘word of mouth’. By now, we’d be talking about nothing else if not for these restraints. Since the mid-1980s, I have grappled with a heightened awareness of climate change as I observed it unfold. This process largely followed the predictions of Carl Sagan and Al Gore, which have proven to be remarkably accurate, with the exception being the projection of too generous a timeline. During all of this period I have remained mostly silent. This was because I learned early on that trying to warn others of the danger was futile, as nearly everyone was in denial and preferred their blissful blanket of ignorance. When I did speak out, I got the same response one gets when trying to tell someone they’re alcoholic. I could not shake the ramparts of delusional complacency and as ‘messenger’, realized I was likely to get ‘shot’ for trying. If not for this, we would have long since taken action and would not have been in the mess we’re in today. It’s only been over the last couple of years that I can express my concern without getting shut down or shut out, but I still have to be very selective when doing so. As a society, unless it is at someone else’s expense, we tend to avoid certain unpleasant topics. There are many reasons we do this, but frequently our silence will result from trying to avoid addressing issues that have the potential to impact us indirectly in a negative or otherwise troubling manner. As a rule we have an aversion to asking people about such things as a terminal illness, because the thoughts of upsetting them may inhibit us from bringing it up. But this is often subconscious deflection, as we really don’t want to hear about things that discomfort us. Although politics is the life blood of this site, many less politically engaged people avoid it as an ‘upsetting’ topic. This cuts off the spread of potentially vital information, while letting disinformation seep in from other nefariously engineered sources seeking to take advantage of ignorance enhanced anger and anxiety. Climate articles on Daily Kos, account for only a small fraction of daily postings and, judging from the recs they receive, are largely passed over by the majority of DK readership, although this is changing. Recent coverage of George Santos has at times surpassed the total of concurrent climate articles and garnered more recs as well. It follows that if people are not reading climate posts, they are also not talking about them, which means they are evading the ‘day ruining’ information provided and avoiding climate as a topic of conversation. Several reasons can account for this, which are all mix-and-match: denial, despair and despondency. While these elicit normal human reactions when responding to the magnitude of fear generated by climate collapse, they can effectively block the dissemination of knowledge essential to confronting climate change and inspiring constructive proaction. Fear ordinarily loosens the tongue, while shock can silence us. Despair often follows revelatory shock and, in this case, impedes dialogue. If we don’t push through this, we will not survive. Although the comments to climate posts can often be informative in ways that expand upon the particular subject being addressed, many Kos readers who have the concern and guts to attack this information, still appear to be struggling to process it in a way that is beneficial to our survival. They often express opinions that contain inaccuracies, perhaps due to poor reading and comprehension skills, inadequate knowledge or the remaining vestiges of their denial. Misinformation is rampant and and has seeped into otherwise credible sources. It can be very difficult to recognize inaccuracies and falsehoods without possessing a firm and deep knowledge of the realities of climate change and the mechanics behind it. As a result, despair and despondency are frequently voiced by commentators. And then there are the Doomers. A few comments do offer constructive ideas and suggestions for things readership can do, either collectively or individually, to help stabilize climate.** But the fact is, climate dialogue as manifested in the comments on DK, can all too often devolve into a vehicle for venting climate fears, which is, in itself, a method for avoiding action. Ultimately, climate avoidance, through one cognitive method or another, still rules too much of DK readership. While there are of course many exceptions, there just aren’t enough of them yet to tip the scales in favor of focused constructive discourse leading to aggressive meaningful action. This is despite the fact that articles on this site have informed us many times, that climatologists studying the effects of the Pandemic Shutdown on CO2 levels, have strongly advised we get them back down to where they were then ASAP. They state that by doing this we can effectively buy the time we’ll need to switch to sustainables. I and others have suggested that the logical way to do this is by imposing climate shutdowns, modeled after the Pandemic shutdown, but with differing parameters to effectively address climate, not Covid. thehill.com/... 'Environmental Lockdown'? The common response to the climatology research findings above, is no response, while the climate shutdown proposal elicits passive aggressive pushback, often stating categorically that it is nothing short of a ridiculous idea, because people wouldn’t go along with it. Yet the fact is that most people didn’t welcome the pandemic shutdown and only went along with it out of fear or peer pressure and because they were ordered to. No one has made a counter proposal or any attempt to consider shutdowns as worthy of further discussion. In the meantime, with a total lack of viable and timely alternatives, it is very likely that shutdowns are our only hope. Nevertheless, the general response is to be dismissive and give in to hopelessness. DO not pass go. Do not collect our heads. Go directly to jannihilation. This unacceptable approach to climate ‘engagement’, is partially due to a very poor level of climate information harvesting and processing, exacerbated by a cursory and inadequately comprehended knowledge of human nature. The process of careful reading and receiving information open-mindedly, followed by contemplation and objective discourse of the facts at hand seems to be in short supply these days. Furthermore, an overall understanding of how we respond to a crisis collectively is all too often based in a collective PTSD preconception that we as a species are incapable of doing so. This despite many historical examples to the contrary. Few people seem to have a basic grasp on the mechanics of the “zeitgeist” and how it is designed to make a radical shift when exposed to crisis. On top of this, fear, denial, despair, ignorance, disinformation, etc., when not dealt with properly, are all disruptive mental baggage that impede our ability to process information with clarity. Fortunately this means they can all be dispelled by healthy open constructive information exchange. But we need to start talking first. If you do not already do so… Talk about climate on DK and try to share information that nurtures action. Do not succumb to despair, as it is still too early for that. Since climatologists continue to clamoring for change and have not given up, remember that they are exponentially better informed than we are and giving up is therefore an ego driven deceit attempting to hang onto normalcy. Talk about climate on social media and post informed sources to get others engaged. Talk to friends and family, to see what they are doing, make suggestions, share ideas and current information. Talk about needless consumption and waste. Motivate others. But most importantly, begin a dialogue with yourself. Remember, before you can act responsibly you need to be informed to the best of your abilities, so read as many of the climate posts on DK as you can. We created this emergency and we own it, which binds us to doing whatever we can to fix it before it fixes us. There are many things we can all do as individuals, starting with mindful consumption. Giving in to despair is avoidance and, intentionally or not, is a cop-out. We can’t predict the outcome of addressing a problem we’ve never faced before, until we try fixing it. Since the results of the pandemic shutdown research were released over a half a year ago and the time we have left to act is eroding at what appears to be the same speed as the Thwaites Glacier, things may indeed seem hopeless. It is important, however, to know that climatologists are, by their own admission, out of their depth when it comes to predictively understanding the forces at work and since there’s such a plethora of variables and unfathomable unknowns, we are wise if we set despair aside and get to work. *’Silence=Death’ was the famous and brilliant slogan of the AIDS awareness movement that came to prominence early in the epidemic, when, as now, pro-action suffered from a virtually total media blackout, as well as malignant callousness from the ‘silent majority’. Awareness then, as now, was plagued by denial, despair and despondency…but we fought back, using word of mouth and community forums to spread beneficial information and guidance for helping and coping…and surviving!…replacing despair with resolve. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/26/2118953/-Perhaps-the-most-important-information-of-all-time-and-hardly-anyone-is-listening https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/7/2106119/-Climate-Brief-Why-there-s-still-a-rational-case-for-Climate-Optimism **Angmar does provide a list with all his posts, which I reprint here. However, this should not preclude further discussion, ideas and support in comments. Reading this list and actually implementing it are two very different processes. >Turn out the lights when not in use/use less [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/15/2153140/-For-the-Second-Time-in-My-Life-SILENCE-DEATH Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/