Lets face it. One of our biggest motivators is fear. Fear is not our only
motivator, of course, but we’d
have to admit it is a pretty big one. And our
classic response options to fear are – fight, flight, or freeze.
So, when we look at the world what do we see and what do we fear? All of us
will have differing answers, but some that come to mind on the global scale
might be terrorism, war, climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality,
corporate corruption, or refugee crises. Closer to home it may be domestic
violence, homelessness, or drug/alcohol abuse.
In 1974 the authors of the ground-breaking book/study Limits to
Growth,1 noted a correlation between what people were concerned
with and their proximity to it geographically and in time. The further away the
issue, the less concerned people tended to be. The more into the future the
issue, the less concerned we can be. Even things that may affect our children
adversely in their lifetimes often are of less concern than something happening
next week, or in our street.
We can also be more concerned about something if it happens suddenly, rather
than if it unfolds over a long period of time. For example, our fear is
amplified by a gunman firing at random in a street, yet our fear of climate
change is diminished. One happens suddenly and occurs over a short space of
time. The other unfolds over many years and continues on over a long period of
time. See the diagram below.
It is little wonder then that public policy debates relating to community
safety tend to focus on those events that happen suddenly, with little attention
given to the safety that is threatened by events that unfold over a long period
of time.
The psychology involved here is undoubtedly complex. I am not a psychologist
and hence, I have no insight into how to work with this. If any reader is aware
of any research into this conundrum, then please share it.
Notes:
1. Meadows, Meadows, Randers, Behrens III, Limits to Growth,
Universe Books, New York, 1972
Reflections, commentaries, critiques and ideas from 40 years experience in the fields of Community Development, Community Education and Social Justice. Useful tools and techniques that I have learnt also added occassionally.
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The name of this blog, Rainbow Juice, is intentional.
The rainbow signifies unity from diversity. It is holistic. The arch suggests the idea of looking at the over-arching concepts: the big picture. To create a rainbow requires air, fire (the sun) and water (raindrops) and us to see it from the earth.
Juice suggests an extract; hence rainbow juice is extracting the elements from the rainbow, translating them and making them accessible to us. Juice also refreshes us and here it symbolises our nutritional quest for understanding, compassion and enlightenment.
The rainbow signifies unity from diversity. It is holistic. The arch suggests the idea of looking at the over-arching concepts: the big picture. To create a rainbow requires air, fire (the sun) and water (raindrops) and us to see it from the earth.
Juice suggests an extract; hence rainbow juice is extracting the elements from the rainbow, translating them and making them accessible to us. Juice also refreshes us and here it symbolises our nutritional quest for understanding, compassion and enlightenment.
Wednesday 7 February 2018
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