Posted on 03/26/2008 9:41:22 PM PDT by neverdem
Before I unveil my plan to combat global warming using mood rings and glowing lapel pins, let me explain the scientific rationale.
Everyone talks about the future weather, but so far nobody has done much about it, not even the many people and politicians convinced that climate change will be a serious problem. This situation comes as no surprise to the behavioral researchers who have been studying the human brains penchant for making dumb choices.
We cant even prepare properly for something as straightforward as our own retirement. Well put in long hours shopping for a cellphone or a television set, but were too busy to agonize over pension plans: in one study, most people spent less than an hour choosing theirs. Were not good at making immediate sacrifices for an abstract benefit in the future. And this weakness is compounded when, as with climate change, we have a hard time even understanding the problem or the impact of our actions today.
But we also have peculiarities that could be useful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With the right prompting, well make sacrifices for the common good and perform acts of charity that wed never do for any amount of pay. Well reform our behavior strikingly to conform with social norms. Well even make astute cost-benefit judgments if we get simple, clear feedback thats why cars come with idiot lights.
We need the right nudge, to borrow the title of the new book applying the lessons of social psychology and behavioral economics to everything from health care to climate maintenance. The authors of Nudge, Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago, agree with economists whod like to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by imposing carbon taxes or a cap-and-trade system, but they think people need extra guidance...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Some brains should have “idiot lights” too.....like LIBERALS!!!!!!!!!!
ping
Where did I see this? Probably Readers Digest. Anyway, from memory:
You're out for a walk on a warm sunny afternoon when the air begins to cool and you decide to turn for home. Before you get there, the sky has turned dark, the swirling wind is stripping the remaining leaves from the trees, and you are pulling your coat to your chest against the chill. Retirement.
... I'm sure I didn't do it justice. It was quite poetic.
They think we’re all children who can’t comprehend a utility bill, so we need the government to regulate our thermostats for us.
Why not scarlet letters or yellow badges?? That way it would be easier for the new environmentally-minded "uber-citizen" to recognize and report those who aren't "in the right mindset" of global warming consciousness.
later
Mine’s an 11 1/2 D.
Yea, I think the liberals still have a stash of those “Yellow Stars” left over from the concentration camps during WW II; as true leftist, then, as always, they got carried away with planning and made too many!
Carbon Scam Ping - (POGW)
We’ve got an absolutely idiotic situation here: probably a majority of people believe, based on a lousy accumulation of indicators—with plenty of contrary indicators—that we have a man-heating-the-planet-to-the-point-of-catastrophe scenario. Then, when it comes to doing something about it—instituting the kind of draconian measures that would affect climate if the first assumption were true—even larger majorities are opposed. This should be a huge plus for Republican candidates, if they can frame the question(s) properly!
Cass Sunstein is a liberals liberal who believes we all need extra guidance from people like him at the point of the government's guns.
You;re in.
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