Human nature, the economy, and the environment
Rochester Business Journal by Abigail McHugh-Grifa
February 7, 2023
At this point in history, the climate crisis is more of a human problem than a technology problem. Sure, additional technological advances will be helpful, but we could get very close to a fully decarbonized economy using only technologies that exist today. What we’re currently lacking is the political will to implement those technologies at an appropriate pace and scale. Trying to motivate people to take action on climate is therefore the primary focus of my work, meaning that I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what makes humans tick.
Fortunately I had the opportunity to study human development and motivation in grad school, so my current quest to understand humans’ varied and often puzzling responses to the climate crisis is partially grounded in real science. My thinking on this issue was also highly influenced by the third chapter of Kate Raworth’s book Doughnut Economics, which provides a fantastic overview of how beliefs about human nature have shaped economic theories and policies over the past two centuries. And because I’m a nerd who is fascinated by human behavior, I just enjoy observing and analyzing myself and the people around me.
But despite my best efforts, trying to figure out which aspects of our problematic relationship with the natural world are deeply rooted in human nature and which are products of our socialization is a complicated task. Our experiences in the world influence how our inherent qualities do or do not manifest, so nature versus nurture debates are never straightforward. In the field of music, for example, a person might have the capacity to become a great musician, but if they don’t have the opportunity to develop their musical skills during childhood, their musical growth will likely be stunted.
I believe the stunted development of our innate ability to be good stewards of the Earth is a key cause of the many environmental crises we’re currently facing (e.g., biodiversity loss, chemical pollution, ocean acidification, climate change, etc.). Like it or not, humans are animals that rely on the natural world for our survival. Yet, in industrialized societies, many people (myself included) grew up without many opportunities to interact with nature and develop the skills that are required to live in harmony with nature. In fact, our socialization often encourages us to exploit nature and consider ourselves as separate from the natural world and superior to other species (e.g., consider “man’s dominion over God’s creation,” “manifest destiny,” and of course consumerism). But it’s important to recognize that other cultures have figured out how to live in harmony with nature (e.g., most Indigenous cultures), which suggests that humans are not innately programmed to overtax the Earth’s resources.
Western economic principles have traditionally assumed that we humans are inherently rational, competitive, selfish, and individualistic. As a result, policies and institutions have been designed to encourage and reward that kind of behavior, and we’ve collectively bought into the narrative that taking as much as you possibly can for yourself will somehow make everyone better off. Unfortunately that approach has gotten us into serious trouble, both because it doesn’t take planetary boundaries into account and because humans are actually social creatures who thrive when we have a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives.
When I look deep in my heart, I see a mix of qualities, some of which I’m proud of and some of which are embarrassing. It’s clear that I have the capacity to be kind, generous, caring, compassionate, thoughtful, helpful, brave, trustworthy, responsible, etc., and these positive characteristics are sometimes reflected in my thoughts and behavior. I can also be selfish, petty, arrogant, insensitive, bossy, judgemental, inflexible, inconsiderate, lazy, ungrateful, etc., which also shows up in my thoughts and behavior on a regular basis, though since I want to be “a good person,” I make a conscious effort to keep these aspects of my personality in check, and I experience shame and guilt when they manifest in noticeable ways.
Based on my understanding of human history and my observations of other people, I think I’m quite normal in this regard. In other words, I don’t believe that humans are inherently good or bad. Instead, I believe (1) we have the capacity to contribute both positively and negatively to the world around us, (2) how we behave depends on a lot of factors, only some of which we can control, and (3) although we can and should strive to “make good choices,” no one is perfect, so our society needs well-designed guardrails (i.e., laws and social norms) that help us get along with each other and collectively thrive.
To my mind, the truly critical question is who designs those guardrails and how are they implemented and enforced. This is where power dynamics come into play. As with other animal species, the existence of power hierarchies does seem to be baked into our DNA, though as demonstrated throughout history, how power is distributed and wielded in human societies is negotiable. In a truly Democratic society, our laws should align with the interests of the majority of people. The fact that they don’t indicates that the balance of power is somehow skewed. Fortunately, humans have big brains that allow us to be creative and make intentional, collaborative decisions about how to structure our societies. This means we can change hierarchies, power dynamics, and systems that aren’t serving us well.
A lot of laws and regulations (or lack of laws and regulations) don’t currently align with the conditions that promote human health and happiness. We know this because scientists have done a good job over recent decades of identifying factors that promote our wellbeing and factors that undermine it. For example, it is well-understood that (1) strong relationships are essential for human happiness and (2) material wealth (beyond a certain amount) does not make people happy. Scientists have also developed an impressively clear understanding of how ecosystems work and how human behaviors impact those systems. These discoveries were possible because humans are a curious and creative species, who pool information to collaboratively learn over time.
In fact, according to Fath et al. (2019), “Effective collective learning is humanity's central survival strategy and the keystone to long-term vitality…. Failure to learn is the underlying cause of most societal collapse…. Despite humanity's adaptive talents, every pattern of civilization eventually reaches limits that force a choice: cling to old ways and decline or innovate and transform. Today's most crucial innovation may well involve learning to live and flourish within the limits.”
Unfortunately, in the age of “fake news,” collective learning can sometimes lead us astray. And despite our collective brilliance, humans are, in many ways, creatures of habit. Though we come into the world with very flexible, adaptable brains, making big changes does get harder as we get older. Lots of factors can influence our motivation to change, including both threats and rewards. Locally, we really haven’t been forced to face the threat of climate change yet, and largely because of how our economy is structured, most people are still experiencing the “rewards” of using fossil fuels (e.g., convenience, social acceptance, money).
Though I believe there’s a real chance that human civilization could go down in flames within my lifetime as a result of environmental collapse and political unrest, I wholeheartedly reject the idea that humans are fundamentally selfish, competitive creatures who are destined to destroy the planet and fight to the death over scarce resources. I say that because I interact with people every day who are striving to be generous, kind, and caring, and who are working hard to make the world a better place. I also hear stories of people from other regions and countries who are doing the same. Those stories rarely get a lot of attention, since our human brains are wired to latch onto bad news, but that doesn’t make them less real or less important.
Because humans are capable of both wonderful and awful things, I believe our choices matter. As individuals, most of us don’t have a lot of direct influence over the systems that perpetuate environmental destruction and human suffering, but we can band together to build power and encourage those who already have power to either use it for the common good or lose it. This is inherently political work, but it’s not about partisan politics, since all humans have the same basic needs and the political polarization that currently exists in our country is clearly the product of our socialization.
Different economic theories reflect different assumptions about human nature. In our country, the economic paradigms that have dominated our political discourse for many decades are largely based on outdated assumptions that don’t fully align with current science about human development, human motivation, human wellbeing, planetary boundaries, or really anything else. I therefore hope we will use our big, creative brains to update the narratives we use to describe ourselves and imagine and implement a new and better economic system that is based on who we really are. Or as Kate Raworth aptly put it, “We have wasted two hundred years staring at the wrong portrait of ourselves: Homo economicus, that solitary figure poised with money in hand, calculator in his head, nature at his feet, and an insatiable appetite in his heart. It is time to redraw ourselves as people who thrive by connecting with each other and with this living home of ours that is not ours alone.”