If it’s that easy why don’t we all go green?
Because human nature is complicated and has numerous facets and viewpoints on life and death, our brains have a tendency to ignore changes, bad habits, and the significance of certain situations. We have all heard, at some point in our lives, about the negative effects that not going green has on the environment and our quality of life. Perhaps we even made an effort to change, became anxious about everything we did, felt guilty about using non-ecological products, or even supported celebrities, but in the end we forgot and went back to our regular lives, leaving all of this behind. But why do we forget, particularly in a situation this significant? Why are we unable to go green? That's because we can only see certain parts of life, it is impossible to fully comprehend life and the universe. Our brains are wired to only notice patterns and recurring events, which may account for why we tend to judge people based just on their appearance or why we keep entering the same password on our phones even after we've changed it. Change is therefore easy on the human body but difficult for our minds to process and understand. In addition, our minds deceive us into believing that an individual cannot alter the environment, which causes our minds to revert to their previous shortcuts and routines.
Our minds have a difficult time realising when we have made poor decisions or contributed to poor decisions. As a result, we are always coming up with reasons why we did something or why we are doing it now because it makes us feel morally upright and like decent people. The average individual is probably unaware of the consequences of simply purchasing a shirt from a large cooperative firm, the palm oil in the cookies they have previously purchased, or the deforestation occurring in Indonesia. We are unable to perceive the effects of anything we do because it causes us to become anxious and feel like horrible people, which causes us to ignore the situation and do nothing.
It also stems from a basic fear of the circumstance; the human brain, in situations that are difficult to alter, has a tendency to turn the circumstances around and learn to ignore and cope with them. This is the fundamental reason that Stockholm Syndrome is ingrained in our thoughts: we apply it to our circumstances and know what is right or wrong, but we forget it since it is difficult for us to alter it on our own.
We are overcome by the enormity of the circumstance. Saying "ocean acidification" appears insignificant because it just consists of two words, but when we delve deeper and learn more about it, the tragedies and melancholy that fill our brains with the feeling of being overwhelmed.
