The Magic of the Weather
Autor: D. Harald Alke
A standpoint, not a lexicon entry. A worldview-based commentary by D. Harald Alke. Background knowledge: the lexicon entry Collectivism and individualism.
On what do we direct our attention?
I think we do well to live positively and not to let ourselves be paralysed by fear-inducing headlines. This is expressly my subjective view: it seems to me that a great deal of fear is generated around the climate – and various interests earn from fear. This does not mean that I dispute climate research or hold environmental protection to be wrong. On the contrary: there is a real need for action, for instance with energy consumption, and we should help developing countries to develop without our old mistakes (toxic waste, pesticides, missing sewage treatment plants). The switch to renewable energies is right – it should only be done with a sense of proportion.
When “green” backfires
Some of what is sold as good climate policy I hold to be contradictory. While everyone wants to lower CO₂ emissions, more and more households and even firms are once again heating with wood or burning straw bales – which often puts more fine dust into the air than a modern oil or gas heating system. Poorer countries clear forests in order to meet the rising demand for wood. Whoever burns their garden waste counts as a climate sinner; if they put the same into the stove, it is suddenly all right. Such inconsistencies we should be allowed to address openly.
The magic of the weather
And now to a thought that goes beyond the day’s politics – to my worldview conviction: life is magical. Our thoughts and feelings are a part of the world that we help to shape. When the old shamans could inspire their tribe and together called upon the rain gods, then, so the tradition holds, the longed-for wet came. That is a spiritual view, not a scientific assertion – but it reminds us of what we direct our attention and energy towards.
Let us direct it towards living positively, in a temperate climate at a high standard. There is much to do – but fear is the worst counsellor in it. Let us turn our strength to the beautiful things and to our own goals. Sat nam!
Frequently asked questions
Does the Kyborg Institute deny climate change?
No. This article does not doubt climate research, but expresses a subjective scepticism towards the way politics and business are made with climate fear. Environmental protection and renewable energies the Kyborg Institute holds to be right.
What is meant by the “magic of the weather”?
The worldview conception that our thoughts and feelings are part of the world that we help to shape. That is a spiritual view, not a scientific statement about the weather.