Human Psyche
Most people have very steady routines and enjoy the solidity of these routines. Orders coming from the outside that force people to change is usually received with negativity and pushback. Harvard Business Review writer Paul Strebel researched this resistance to change within businesses. He found that employees often ignore and neglect change that is asked of them because they do not feel a personal connection. Strebel saw success where companies created change by including the employees in the process and not just having managers bark out orders.
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Strebel's research easily connects to the issue of climate change today. People do not feel a personal connection to climate change because it does not directly impact their daily lives. They probably glance at the news that shows more disasters and evidence of climate change happening. They probably feel their hometown getting slightly warmer every year. But does traffic get worse or do the lines at Chipotle get longer? No, so people go about their day and are not motivated to combat this changing climate.
People can blame their stubbornness on their minds. This resistance to change is programmed in all humans by our own brains beginning at a very young age in order to increase our chances of survival. This may seem like a smart thing to do because sticking to what we know is safe and new might mean dangerous. In the modern world, this instinct of survival leads to formation of habits and the resistance to change these habits. Unfortunately, habits of carbon dioxide emissions and other pollution has directly led to global warming. Now that these habits have formed, humans and economies are resistant to change them. Finally, climate change is a long-term issue. Humans tend to focus more on short-term thinking and lack focus on complex and long-term issues.
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