Prof. Dr. Maren Urner, how is it possible that we humans know so much about climate change and yet are unable to do anything about it?
Prof. Dr. Maren Urner: Various aspects at the individual and societal levels play a role here. One important aspect that encompasses both levels is our tendency towards normality – the so-called normalcy bias, also known as the “ostrich effect”. Most people tend to underestimate dangers, even in catastrophic situations. In the case of the climate crisis, this effect is amplified because doubts have been sown in recent decades about the existence and consequences of the man-made climate crisis. Why? Because many powerful individuals and companies can earn a lot of money trading in fossil fuels in times of fossil fuel use.
Many people have been in a deep crisis of meaning for some time and feel a strong sense of world-weariness. They themselves call it the ‘permanent feeling of crisis’. From a neuroscientific perspective, what strategies are suitable for promoting a feeling among people that they can really make a difference – instead of remaining in learned helplessness?
The opposite of learned helplessness is self-efficacy. This is the powerful feeling we experience when we achieve something and succeed at something. This can be something seemingly trivial, such as hanging a picture or baking bread. That is why so many people shopped at DIY stores and bakery departments during the pandemic. The positive feelings of self-efficacy are strongest when we feel effective together with other people. This feeling can empower us so much in seemingly small things that we also feel empowered and equipped to face larger, more complex challenges and become (more) active.
You emphasise that emotions play an important role in all our actions and are indispensable even in politics. To what extent can emotions be helpful when it comes to climate protection?
Emotions are the currency of meaning in the human body. In other words, the more emotional something is, the more intensely we feel it and store it in our memory. The fatal mistake is that, during the Enlightenment, we began to mistakenly try to separate emotion and reason from each other. But that is impossible. We can only differentiate and make decisions because we have feelings that signal our likes and dislikes. With regard to the climate crisis and future-oriented action, feelings such as fear and sadness are also important when we see our homeland under threat, for example. If we accept and process these feelings well, we feel how important it is to work to preserve our homeland and our livelihoods. Because, in the truest sense of the word, it is a matter of our survival.
We are noticing a certain climate fatigue in society. However, looking away does not solve our problems. Ms Urner, you are a neuroscientist and an absolute media professional. ‘We need to talk about climate protection differently,’ you said recently in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. In your opinion, do climate activists and the media focus too little on solutions?
That is part of the problem – admittedly, of the last decades of climate reporting. It stopped at describing the problem or reported when something negative happened. Yet we know very well that the self-efficacy described above is activated above all when people also think about how things can continue, what solutions there are or could be. That's why I've been specifically advocating for constructive journalism since 2015 and co-founded Perspective Daily in 2016, an online magazine that reports constructively and solution-oriented. In addition, climate reporting has long been very distant. The classic example is the polar bear on a melting ice floe. There was a lack of spatial, temporal and social proximity for people.
What motivates you personally to get involved in climate protection?
There is no alternative if you are “interested” in a future worth living.
Do you have an inspiring person in mind who would be a good fit for our interview series? Who would you recommend?
Many people come to mind: Marina Weißband, Anni and Alex Kornelsen, Katharina von Bronswijk, Lea Dohm and Maik Meuser.