Why We ACT Like Lemmings

“The inactions of others can make us underestimate the threats to our own safety,” Camillia Cavendish – London Times

Cavendish cites studies that suggest we humans have a kind of herd mentality. If climate change is a problem, then people would be doing something about it we think. Since they’re not, then there is no problem.

Another way of looking at this:

Imagine you are waiting in line at a busy hospital emergency waiting room — its tense, crowded and hot. You start to smell smoke. You look around and everyone else seems to be preoccupied with their own problems. You start to notice the air is getting a little smoky. No one else seems to notice it, you ask the person beside you who is nursing a sprained wrist; he pretends not to hear you and looks the other way.

Your eyes are watering now, others are wiping their eyes too but no one moves or says anything. They are all focused on the nursing triage station hoping they’re next in line.

Finally the smoke is too thick to ignore but people remain in line mumbling: “if it was a real fire, the alarms would be ringing”.

Eventually someone leaves the line up – charts a different course. But is it now too late to escape? And what about the rest, will they stubbornly remain in line?

Cavendish writes that once people are aware of this dangerous tendency to follow the herd over the cliff we can break away and forge our own more sensible path.

So let’s say you’re aware that Climate Change might pose a major risk to your future and especially for your children. However since not much is being done nor is anyone really talking about it, you might be tempted to take false comfort in the possibility that maybe you’ve got it wrong. In fact the safest and most sensible response is see this collective inaction as sign that we may be in serious danger.

In other words when the herd is oblivious to approaching danger, alarm bells ought to be ringing in your head.

Alarm bells are ringing in a few people and they’re yelling “hey climate change is taking us over the cliff!”

At the moment those voices are largely being ignored in the herd’s blind assurance that we know where we are going.

Alarm bells are ringing but are you listening?