John Cook on Changing Behavior, Changing Minds
November 4, 2021
More from last week’s conversation with John Cook PhD, who left his position at George Mason University last spring to return to his native Australia.
He’s got an amusing and insightful story about Climate denial and his Dad.
Climate Denial Crock of the Week 
November 4, 2021 at 7:43 pm
I salute John Cook as he has patiently been on the case of making an impression on climate denial and misinformation for many years now, has put out papers and conducted some great anti-denial courses.
However I have come to the conclusion the hard-nosed deniers are no longer so important, the main enemy of inaction are the people who don’t care at all, show complete indifference, are totally disinterested and apathetic, and sadly that includes some people very close to me.
This is why people like Trump, Harper and Abbott get voted into premier positions, and why countries have to wait 4 or more years before taking any action.
How to make people care, without blowing/burning/drowning their houses down or depriving them of food and water. ?
I wish I knew.
November 4, 2021 at 8:40 pm
Very good observation that belief change doesn’t need to cause behavior change which can come from removing barriers to change.
November 5, 2021 at 7:14 am
I have observed this in very conservative, rural areas of the Midwest – when farmers get wind turbines or solar fields on their land, they can begin to imaging that, if there is a problem, they are part of the solution.
It makes the conversations much easier to have.