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Comment by amazingman | Hacker News Reader

Underneath your sneering is a failure to understand how humans tend to act.

I don’t follow. If I believed the global climate was going to collapse imminently (it’s not) I would have a very specific to do list and would be spending every hour of my free time preparing for this event. Is your point that people performatively engage in catastrophizing? In which case, I agree.

My point is that individuals behave wildly differently to the same stimuli, and therefore your belief that "revealed preferences" put the lie to stated beliefs is specious. Individual humans can believe that a broad ecological collapse is coming and still live their day to day lives in ignorance of this belief. Self-assess honestly and you'll find examples in your own life.

>Individual humans can believe that a broad ecological collapse is coming and still live their day to day lives in ignorance of this belief.

This sentence is contradictory. How could one believe a particular thing, and then intentionally live in ignorance of this thing?

>Self-assess honestly and you'll find examples in your own life.

Okay. I did the assessment. I found that when I have deeply held beliefs I live my life according to those beliefs. For example, I strongly believe that learning new languages is the most efficient way to maintain neuroplasticity, for a number of reasons. Therefore, I spend 30-60 minutes each day studying languages. Do you have examples in your own life where you believe something to be true, but then intentionally don't live your life as if that thing were true?

You've smuggled in a "deeply held" motte to move your goal posts. Seems like this conversation is over.

Your point appears to be that my deeply held belief is more reasonably attainable than as an activity someone can engage in that what should result from "I believe the world is going to end unless all global economies cease activity in order to drop carbon emissions to zero". In which case, yes I agree and the conversation is over.

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