Sigh, for some reason some people seem to think climate skeptics hate their children and grandchildren. I wonder if they’ve ever polled to compare with concerns for that other “pass on to the next generation” issue, our soaring national debt that our children and grandchildren have to pay for?
Climate Change, Narcissism, Denial, Apocalypse. The science is critical, but understanding why so many people are still in denial requires further explanation. Here’s an except from an Op Ed by Dr. Robert D. Stolorow at Psychology Today:
“On October 5, 2012, on the front page of the Huffington Post, appeared a terrifying image of melting arctic ice, accompanied by the chilling headline, “Arctic Ice Melt and Sea Level Rise May Be ‘Decades Ahead Of Schedule’” Why have the majority of Americans and American politicians been largely oblivious to this extreme threat? I believe there are two principal reasons.
The first is unbridled narcissism. Psychoanalytic developmental theorist Erik Erikson famously characterized an essential aim of adulthood as generativity—the caring for the well being of future generations. Climate change most likely will not be a threat for most of us, but it will leave our children, grandchildren, and future descendents with catastrophes of unimaginable proportions. In the deplorable obliviousness and indifference to the problem of climate change, any concern for the well being of future generations is being blatantly trumped by narrow self-interest and greed.”
The second is denial. What, precisely, is being denied? More than three decades ago I took my young son to a planetarium show at the New York Museum of Natural History. During that show it was predicted that a million years from now the sun will become a “red giant” that will engulf and destroy our entire solar system. This prospect filled me with intense horror. Why would a catastrophe predicted to occur in a million years evoke horror in me? Let me explain.
================================================================
A couple of points:
Here is the “terrifying” photo:
The good doctor probably does not get to see the other view of sea ice, when it is at maximum in March:
Perhaps he doesn’t realize that the ice regenerates every year, and maybe he thinks that it becomes a permanent condition? Maybe he never looks at the Antarctic either, where the majority of the ice is, and setting new records for the most ice this year.
And since he’s arguing from a position of authority, I should at least point out that he hasn’t even got his basic facts straight.
During that show it was predicted that a million years from now the sun will become a “red giant” that will engulf and destroy our entire solar system. This prospect filled me with intense horror. Why would a catastrophe predicted to occur in a million years evoke horror in me?
Maybe it will be less horrifying when you learn your horror timeline is off by 4.999 billion years? From NASA “Ask an Astrophysicist“:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Question
(Submitted June 04, 2004) How long until the Sun becomes a red giant?
The Answer
The Sun will become a red giant in about 5 billion years, which is slightly more time than it has already been a star. There’s a lot of nice information about the Sun at
http://www.nineplanets.org/sol.html
Hope that helps.
-Kevin and Dirk,
for “Ask an Astrophysicist”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It is difficult for me to take somebody like this seriously, especially one with a “PhD” attached to his name that can’t even get such basic facts they base their argument on right.
As for his diagnosis, perhaps the good doctor would benefit from reading this article in Reason magazine:
The Medicalization of RebellionThe long, shameful history of using science to stigmatize dissenthttp://reason.com/archives/2012/04/21/the-medicalization-of-rebellion
Or this one, about his cohort in slime, Dr. Stephan Lewandowsky which talks about the same topic.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/09/15/toodle-lew/
Its just more Political Abuse of Psychiatry, such as was practiced in the Soviet Union:
In the Soviet Union, systematic political abuse of psychiatry took place. Soviet psychiatric hospitals known as “psikhushkas” were used by the authorities as prisons in order to isolate hundreds or thousands of political prisoners from the rest of society, discredit their ideas, and break them physically and mentally. This method was also employed against religious prisoners and most especially against well-educated former atheists who adopted a religion. In such cases their religious faith was determined to be a form of mental illness that needed to be cured. Formerly highly classified extant documents from “Special file” of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union published after the dissolution of the Soviet Union demonstrate that the authorities of the country quite consciously used psychiatry as a tool to suppress dissent.
Sound familiar when looking at what is being written about climate skeptics today?
I wonder who will be the first to propose that Gitmo have a section added for “climate deniers”?
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The good doctor writes: “The horror that I felt was an extreme form of existential anxiety”
So we can all agree with him. He is mentally sick.
What would this guy think if he knew that this climate skeptic once thought of being a Psychologist?
The statement “arctic sea ice melt and sea level rise” is precisely why there is denial. The two are not linked which even the most casual science person should know. Arctic sea ice could melt 12 months of the year and we do not know if that will cause any change in sea level at all. Linking the two in a single statement is clearly deceptive. That’s why there are denialist a because the statements of people like this are either clearly misinformed, deceptive or just plain wrong. The facts are clear. We don’t understand climate well enough to make predictions. That’s all I keep pointing out to people. Yes temps have gone up but everybody assumes its because of one factor when the facts are temps have varied all along and it is simply too naive to say we know why.
Climate Change, Narcissism, Denial, Apocalypse !! AH HA! Now that is a perfect description of a general warmist. (now I’ll read the article, bet it is using *projection* again, their favorite tool)
During that show it was predicted that a million years from now the sun will become a “red giant” that will engulf and destroy our entire solar system. This prospect filled me with intense horror. Why would a catastrophe predicted to occur in a million years evoke horror in me? Let me explain.
Could it be because you’re a f…ing idiot?
It’s cringeworthy watching these people going through the “and then they fight you” phase.
…deplorable obliviousness… ??? Wonder where he got his education.
“…That’s why there are denialist a because the statements of people like this are either clearly misinformed, deceptive or just plain wrong. The facts are clear. We don’t understand climate well enough to make predictions…”
The main reason that people like Dr. Robert D. Stolorow spout this alarmist drivel is mainly advocacy, as many liberal greens see CAGW as the perfect issue to ensure a return to a less populated Earth and a more ‘natural existence’ for the few that are left – what ever ‘natural’ means.
In this instance, our psychiatrist advocate is showing his slip, as he clearly doesn’t have a clue about how climate operates and is totally ignorant of the basic fact that over the course of history climate has always changed.
Kramer and Sprenger must be gnashing their teeth in sheer envy – “Narcissim, Denial, Apocalypse! Why didn’t we come up with something that catchy? We might still be in business!”
I bet Lewandowsky’s students could reveal who the real narcissist is.
A clear case of “Ph. D. Ineptitude”… not even getting facts straight…
He did not make it being Professor….he lingers in Narcissism and
Alarmism……joined the “Willing Helpers” of AGW, too bad…..
Doctor Stolorow has spilled the beans. GENERATIVITY. Attempting to create the future; putting the stamp of today on the future.
Take renewable energy/wind/solar. These technologies may be important . . . in a few hundred years. They are absolutely irrelevant today, even destructive. Why are so many lefties pushing them? Because they want to assert control on the future.
This bill was submitted to the New Mexico state legislature in 1995:
[source]
Modern day witch doctors, IMHO.
What is the name for the very serious psychiatric condition for those who believe that when the government fails at something it is because there was not enough government involvement and money spent; even though with every spending increase or regulatory increase the results get worse. For example those who believe the spread of AIDS is directly due to the lack of government spending on the research? Change the questions in the questionnaire for this condition and see what they believe about spending and regulation on the environment?
This is the kind of garbage that made Richard Feynman despise psychology as a “science”. It seems to be a pathetic argument made by a grossly incompetent individual. The only narcissist I see here is the dolt making the ridiculous argument.
“Psychiatry professionals”????
Are you certain about that? Stolorow’s bio says he is a “psychoanalyst” and mentions no medical degree.
Lewandowsky likewise lists no M.D. among his degrees. He’s a Ph. D.
Psychiatrists have medical degrees in addition to any training in psychology, psychoanalysis, or psycho-whatever. Psychology itself is not a medical degree in the proper sense of the word, anymore that sociology or anthropology are.
“Maybe it will be less horrifying when you learn your horror timeline is off by 4.99 billion years?”
More like 4.999 billion. But I reckon the basic problem with Dr. Robert D. Stolorow is that he can’t tell million & billion apart, what is more, he does not even care. One big number is five thousand times bigger than another one? So what? You still have a psychiatric condition, this time Anankastic Personality Disorder perhaps.
On the other hand, the good doctor may truly suffer from an Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. There, you have it diagnosed now, beyond reasonable doubt.
At this point the only thing I fail to comprehend is why such trash gets published in Psychology Today? Do they have no shame?
Of course, I agree with WUWT that national and state debts can be considered “catastrophes of unimaginable proportions” for “future descendents” because this spends future incomes before they are even earned, and without their consent.
It also could be considered a “catastrophe of unimaginable proportions” for “future descendents” when governments utilize scary water shortage models and proceed to grossly mismanage water sources, resulting in high costs and excessive regulation, raising food prices.
And another “catastrophe of unimaginable proportions” is the needless destruction of sources of cheap, abundant electricity and the installment of worthless intermittent wind turbines, which inject price volatility into the national economy, cause shortages, and include payouts to renewable owners at the expense of the citizens.
Even an extreme “narcissist” would not inflict these schemes on this or any other generation, because at least narcissists are restrained in their scheming and machinations by the fear of appearances, or the fear of even looking like he is ruining life for other people, because this would mean a loss of standing for the narcissist. Even a good old fashioned narcissist is preferable in these matters. The low carbon economy scam is just plain piracy and looting of what lawfully belongs to others.
Proffessor Thomas Szasz, cira 1980, On what would you say to an organization who insists we are all crazy and need their high-priced help. He was referring to the American psychiatric association.On topic, how does witch doctoring work? 1 Grant self an authoritarian title. check. 2 Accuse the dubious of your most feared sins check.3 Berate them until they retreat…Here is where it can go wrong for the power-hungry. For some reason, inexplicable to the high priests of doom, people get annoyed by their behaviour and generally react badly.
These attempts to medicalize questioning of the divine truth of AWG/CC/GCD/whatever they call team doctrine this week are clear evidence of surrender.
If some psychoanalyst wants to hang out his ignorance of the world for all to see, who are we to complain?
In 2002 he wrote a book entitled ‘Worlds of Experience’. Despite his age, I think perhaps he needs to get out more from under his psychoanalytic shell and experience more of the real world instead of foisting his ignorance of it on us.
“On October 5, 2012, on the front page of the Huffington Post,…”
I stopped reading after that…[sigh]
Op Ed by Dr. Robert D. Stolorow at Psychology Today:
The first is unbridled narcissism. Psychoanalytic developmental theorist Erik Erikson famously characterized an essential aim of adulthood as generativity—the caring for the well being of future generations.
Step #1 in us caring for future generations is to keep witch doctors like you from chucking them into a volcano to placate the demands of your imaginary climate gods.
Climate change most likely will not be a threat for most of us,
That is correct. It also marks the end of your knowledge. You should have stopped there.
…but it will leave our children, grandchildren, and future descendents with catastrophes of unimaginable proportions.
“Ooga Booga”, says the witch doctor, “must sacrifice, or sky dragon will swallow the earth”.
In the deplorable obliviousness and indifference to the problem of climate change, any concern for the well being of future generations is being blatantly trumped by narrow self-interest and greed.
We aren’t indifferent to it. We don’t believe it. Shamans like you either cannot tell the difference between those two circumstances, or are pretending otherwise to gain political ground (i.e. “narrow self interest and greed”). Our concern for future generations is focused on keeping them safe. From charlatans and political hacks like you.
An error of 499900% is perfectly acceptable in psychology.
“Psychoanalytic developmental theorist Erik Erikson famously characterized an essential aim of adulthood as generativity—the caring for the well being of future generations.”
To me the essential aim of my journey through adulthood is to keep my cool while I work in a Dilbertesque job and manage the meagre remainder of my salary that isn’t taxed away to provide rich salaries for the likes of Dr. Stolorow.
He needs to practice some rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT), then maybe he could learn to modify his irrational beliefs and stop catastrophizing a mostly natural phenomenon. 😉