Ministry

July 26, 2009

The Twelve Dragons of Non-Action, and How to Slay Them Robert Gifford

If I may borrow a line from my favorite guitarist, for whom it probably resonates more than it does for me, I’m glad to be anywhere.

Perhaps what Keith meant, or if he didn’t, what I mean is, that life is the greatest gift, the water that we fishes sometimes overlook, the gift without which we would not be able to enjoy those other favours we are sometimes fortunate enough to have bestowed upon us--good health, loving family, supportive friends. So, here’s to life!

I’m also glad to be here because this community has been my second home for 30 years now, even if I have been somewhat scarce around here of late, and I am happy—not to mention privileged--to share this with my extended family.

Anyway, I come to speak of dragons. Why dragons? Wherefore?

Well, in my role as an environmental psychologist, journalists sometimes call me up at the University and ask, “If people are so much in favour of the environment, why don’t they do more for it?” I could offer  a buffet of rather obtuse and abstract behavioral science theories as answers, but I have learned that straightforward answers in plain English, or nearly plain English, are better received.

One simple old-fashioned answer, fine as far as it goes, is that there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. Or, as the science fiction writer Robert Heinlein wrote in 1954, “Man [as he then said] is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal.” Or, as environmental psychologists have framed it in the decades since then, there is often a large gap between our attitudes and our actions.

So, I have been forced by this simple and quite reasonable question posed by journalists to go beyond these one-liners, to give a better answer. Well, not exactly forced, I must confess—I seem to have a collector gene. There’s my penny collection from my childhood still in its fold-up case on the bookshelf, a complete set of 1954 baseball cards, a collection of music posters from the late 1960s, and a collector car from the 1970s. So collecting dragons came naturally, and fed a pent-up desire—I had not collected much lately, except gray hair.

More seriously, although you will certainly recognize some of these dragons, I have never seen a collection of obstacles, rationalizations, or, if you will, excuses, that tried to be complete. Collectors like to be complete.

So, how many dragons, barriers, obstacles that stand in the way of us—and I emphatically include myself—doing more? About a year ago when I began thinking about this, seven dragons leapt into view—a nice number I thought—but upon reflection, reading, and discussion, more dragons keep lumbering from their lairs. When this talk was proposed to me, there were 12, hence the talk’s title. Now there are 13. Maybe there are more.

The dragons originally were conjured up to help explain or at least describe why we do less for the environment than we think we should. But gradually I have come to think that they may help explain why we don’t do other things that we should. I ask you now to think of an attitude-behavior gap of your own—might it be about healthy behaviors, what you buy, how you treat others, exercising, getting those flu shots, how you spend your time, what you eat?

Before these 13 metaphorical dragons tango down the metaphorical red carpet, I want clear up three things. First, the dragons stand in the way of us doing things we “should” do. These “shoulds” are of two quite different varieties: those that other people try to impose on us, and those that we have chosen to impose upon ourselves. In terms of the environment, one can find 10 things you should do (An Inconvenient Truth), 50 things you can do, even 51 things you can do (really!). Second, many people, especially here, are already doing many “shoulds,” so to some extent I am preaching to the converted. Third, I have decided that “lazy” is not one of the dragons. Laziness is simply the poison serum injected by the dragons’ bite...that is, the consequence of the problem, not the cause.

Dragon 1: Ignorance and Numbness: I really didn’t know that I should do that (until now). I’ve heard that so many times that I don’t hear it any more,   can’t see it anymore, tuned out   

Dragon 2: Uncertainty: How to do it, where to do it, is it really the right thing to do? Are those big heavy lightbulbs with some mercury in them really better than the simple old incandescent bulbs? Is exercising really going to be worth it? When people are not sure, they hesitate.

Dragon 3: PBC: I can’t do it, it’s under someone else’s control. My effort has almost no impact. I don’t even think that if everyone helped out that the problem would be solved.

Dragon 4: Denial: Others push, but I’m sorry—I don’t think that is a problem. Sunspots cause global warming.

Dragon 5: Conflicting goals and aspirations: Getting ahead is important. Winning, being successful. No time. I’m busy.

Dragon 6: Norms and Equity: they don’t do it (or they do do it); it’s not fair for me to sacrifice (or to contribute) if others are (or are not)

Dragon 7: Reactance: Others push more: I am NOT going to do that. The more you push me…

Dragon 8: Place: I’m in the wrong place, situation, context, residence, town

Dragon 9: Tokenism: I already own a Swiffer, I already recycle, I did exercise, just last month (so I have done my bit)

Dragon 10: Habit: the “good” flywheel not always so good. Obvious but strong. My bus problem.

Dragon 11: Risk: functional, physical, social, financial, safety, product

Dragon 12: Divine determinism: God, mother nature, fate will take care of it (the Islanders)

Dragon 13: Optimism bias: It will work out, don’t worry... (health, intelligence, looks)

--choose and focus on one or two—but do FOCUS,

--determine whether there really are important risks (or merely feared ones),

--ignore the norms (easy for Unitarians!),

--set aside the time, (We DO have time—it takes a conscious

                choice to re-arrange it)

--make your goal known to someone who will (gently) push

--“trade” or share goals (each drags the other),

--reward yourself in some small way for success,

--know that God probably has other fires to tend

Concluding remarks: You probably already follow many good “shoulds,” so don’t be beating yourself up about a few you are not. You can’t do everything (is that a dragon?)—but you can

--not everything you think should be done, should be done (8 glasses of water, buying a frig to save money)

Happy to hear about more possible dragons from you!

 

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