Psychology Today

Are we one with nature? Have you ever had the experience of eutierria?

Love for nature and despair over its deterioration both get swept under the carpet of everyday experience. Naming them can bring them both to the surface and liberate us to act.

The antics of some presidential candidates—shouting, insults, sexism, and racism—are making many people cringe. We need adults in the room to deal with society’s major problems.

This year, 2015, may be a banner year for the environment. Let’s celebrate the major good news for Earth.

What are the psychological roadblocks that explain why we’re not doing much to solve global climate change—a phenomenon that threatens the core of our society? This is the seventh and final post in a seven-part series.

What are the psychological roadblocks that explain why we’re not doing much to solve global climate change—a phenomenon that threatens the core of our society? This is the fifth installment in a seven-part series.

What are the psychological roadblocks that explain why we’re not doing much to solve global climate change—a phenomenon that threatens the core of our society? This is the third post in a seven-part series.

What are the psychological roadblocks that explain why we’re not trying hard at all to solve global climate change—a phenomenon that threatens the core of our society? The first post in a seven part series.

It’s important to keep in mind that recycling not only takes large amounts of energy and resources to turn materials into products again, it also may lead to greater consumption and avoidance of better solutions. It’s better to instead focus on the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Some people are still grappling with the idea that humans are not the only animals with intelligence, thought, and consciousness. Some scientists are now studying whether even plants have intelligence—sensation, awareness, integration of information, long-term memory, and adaptive learning. Their findings challenge human uniqueness.

How can we begin to address the society-threatening damages caused by climate change when one of our major political parties is wholly set against action? Congressional Republicans stand alone in the industrialized world as the only major political party to refuse to acknowledge the threat. The will to dominate other people and nature may factor into their recalcitrance.

Am I more likely to make harmful choices because I’m more agreeable? That’s what a new study suggests, but to understand it properly means understanding that each individual is not a statistic and can actually make choices that go against the flow.

Many of us know in our hearts that our lifestyle is damaging to the environment and could even contribute to societal collapse. Changing course can be hard, but it becomes much easier when we don’t try to do it alone but rather gather in groups with shared purposes such as sustainability, social equity, and more resilient communities.

According to a NASA-funded study, industrial civilization may soon collapse: the social and ecological systems our lives depend on may suddenly fail on a massive scale due to overuse of resources, global climate change, and social inequality. Only by facing this possibility earnestly and fully—overcoming our collective denial without panic—can we avert it from happening