Regrowth*
People produce and consume things, because they think it makes them happy. This is a fact, albeit a strange one because we also know that this effect doesn't last, and it becomes less effective over time. This means that in our pursuit of happiness, we need to produce and consume ever more. This comes with massive, and ever-growing negative side effects.
If we want to reduce these side effects, we could suggest that we reduce the very things that make us happy. This is going to be a hard sell, and is unlikely to be an efective suggestion. Similarly, making people aware of the negative impacts of their actions, has little effect too. Probably because, for most of us, reducing what makes us happy is not well compensated for by a reduction of indirect negative effects elsewhere at some time in the future. Sad, but true.
Instead, we could suggest something that does a much better job at making us happy AND that has less negative side effects. Especially if you want others to change, it does not matter what you want from them, instead, you will need to offer a viable alternative to their means for becoming happy. Anything else sounds like a ridiculous suggestion and will cause immediate rejection of the suggestion, as well as of the person suggesting it.
There are also side effects of our producing and consuming habit that affect us personally, as well as directly. For example: the time spend on funding this habit, and the time taken from things that would really make us happy, for example: because we work long hours, we spend less time with the people we love.
So there must be plenty of alternative suggestions that are more effective, longer lasting, require less personal sacrifices, and… have less negative side effects. If you make these suggestions it should be an easier sell, and it might catch quickly. If we could just slow down for a minute to think about the personal sacrifices, and come up with better suggestions.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Can you make people happy without the negative side effects? Or are we stuck between a rock and a hard place. Are there more effective alternatives to make us happy, or was this the pinnacle of our society?
Leave your thoughts in the comments.
*not a typo.
Imagine a world without advertising… Marketing has caused overconsumption What if advertising degenerative products would be prohibited? Only regenerative products may still advertise if people stay within planetary boundaries… but will anyone? We must go green
Nice work Stefan. Personally I would explore the framing around "happiness". Although I take your point in terms of mass adoption, and was lucky enough to talk with Dave Snowden on Friday about providing systemic "adjacent" preferred behaviours, as I understand it. Effectively influencing the conditions for the emergence of preferred (rather than desired) outcomes. Another point of focus for me might be "personal sacrifice" and how that might be engendered and supported, perhaps with reference to what Roger Hallam is enacting. My worry is that if we use "happiness" then we are in danger of adopting or accepting something of a selfish/consumerist paradigm i.e. if it doesn't make me "happy" I'm not doing it. (I've seen this even on spirituality, with people saying they "like" Zen, as if that had anything to do with it!) I also wonder that in the situation we are in, there are soon probably only going to be "least worst" options for a lot of people, so we may have to forestall personal happiness for something more multi-generational? What do you reckon?