The Green Movement’s War on Progress and Why We Distrust Technology, with Marian L Tupy

About this Video

• Video Title: The Green Movement’s War on Progress and Why We Distrust Technology, with Marian L Tupy
• Channel: Quillette
• Speakers: Marian L Tupy, Zoe Booth
• Duration: 00:08:14

Introduction

This Quillette video features Marian L. Tupy discussing the prevalent preference for social solutions over technological advancements in addressing modern challenges like climate change. Tupy argues that this bias stems from our evolutionary past and ingrained cognitive biases that favor social solutions over technological innovation.

Key Takeaways

• Evolutionary Psychology: Human evolution favored social solutions (cooperation, consensus) over technological ones, shaping our instinctive responses to modern problems.
• Cognitive Biases: Negativity bias (focusing on downsides) and availability heuristic (vividly imagining readily available information) skew our perception of technological solutions, emphasizing potential risks over long-term benefits.
• Linear Thinking: The assumption that current trends continue indefinitely ignores the potential for nonlinear technological breakthroughs that could render current concerns obsolete.
• Moral Framing: Climate action is often framed as a moral obligation, prioritizing social solutions (personal sacrifice, austerity) over technological innovation.
• Historical Precedent: History demonstrates repeated instances where technological innovation has solved problems previously deemed insurmountable, contradicting the current emphasis on limitations rather than overcoming them.