Bridging the GAPS between ecology and human security - Environmental and Human Security in the Arctic - page 138

a broader audience, this paper is likely to elicit one of two kinds of reactions:
(1) readers may be flummoxed by the complexity of the issue, and simply
dismiss it as incomprehensible and lacking relevance to their daily life, or (2)
they may grasp that even though it is a complex topic, that the human race is
headed towards a doom-and-gloom scenario, and therefore dismiss it because
it is too depressing to think about, they feel powerless to act to prevent the
outcome. Box 8.1 is our attempt to explain these concepts in some very plain
language - up to a point.
If we believe that ecologists are improving the communication of their
messages through vehicles such as increased interdisciplinary collaborations
(Leshner 2004), then what other reasons may exist to explain why members
of broader society might fail to act on the information (see Armstrong 2010)?
Wright (2004) wrote: 'The notion that growth can be boundless is clearly
the Big Lie of our times.' In an op ed , 'Sustainable planning is cure for growth
delusion' (19 July 2010, Irish Times ), Gerry Crilly wrote: 'Misguided ideolo-
gies - “more is good” and “bigger is better” - have led to an unsustainable
existence, globally, nationally and locally.' The 'growth delusion' is defined
by Lloyd (2009:516) as: 'The twin problems of peak oil and climate change
[being] … underpinned by our belief that economic growth can be supported
indefinitely by a finite Earth.' In his discussion of rationality, Lloyd (2009)
considers how the human brain can simultaneously accept two directly contra-
dictory thoughts. Kahan et al . (2012) recently explored this cognitive dissonance
in their research into the relationship between science literacy and concern
about the impacts of climate change. They found that the most scientifically
literate individuals tended to be the least concerned about climate change
(Kahan et al . 2012), most likely because of the implications for their political
views, personal lifestyle and ecological footprint.
In Managing Without Growth , environmental economist Peter Victor (2008)
presents an economic argument rooted in the messages of ecology, which runs
counter to the dominant global economic framework of unlimited growth
for all, also known as 'the growth delusion'. Clearly, broad-scale political and
other actions informed by ecology's three uncomfortable messages ( Box 8.1)
must happen outside of the narrow field of ecology and be multi-scale and
multi-stakeholder. One possibility is that these actions require the kind
of political will that is simply unattainable at the national or global level.
Diamond (2005:496) articulated this view as:
No one at the UN or in the First World governments is willing to
acknowledge the dream's impossibility … What will happen when it
finally dawns on all those people in the Third World that current First
World standards are unreachable for them, and that the First World
refuses to abandon those standards for itself?