In the movie 'The Santa Clause' one of Santa's elves says to Tim Allen "believing is seeing", children know this but forget as they grow older". We often find and collect the pearls of wisdom in the most unexpected places. A human being is part of the whole we call the universe ... We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest, a delusion. Our view of the big picture is always seen through a veil of beliefs. The veil between us and the big life, that we are but a small part of, is of our own making. We start construction of our worldview with our first breath. Every sensual input must be triaged, each tagged with a value and accepted or rejected, made a bit player or a star in our movie. There are just too many inputs to deal with all at once as they arrive from our senses seeking our attention, we use our blinders defensively.
All this matters. Climate Change is a good example of how our way of seeing events through the veil of our beliefs determine our climate change opinions. Some deny human caused climate change, they believe they have dominion over all 'others'. They see everthing as a gift from the creator for their use, they see themselves as on a higher plane and separate from the mud. Others, equally well meaning, equally sincere in their beliefs, see the same events quite differently. Facts are thought forms not concrete toe stubbing reality, we either rationalize or reject information that doesn't fit our beliefs, we see what we're looking for.
Today the flora, fauna, microbes, minerals, forces, fairies and Gaia herself are under siege by our desire for more, the delusion of endless growth and the divorce of our modern religious beliefs from their pagan roots.
Every seed is awakened and so is all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being and we therefore yield to our animal neighbours the same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land. -Sitting Bull
The Unpersuadables: When Facts Are Not Enough by George Monbiot
There is no simple way to battle public hostility to climate research. As the psychologists show, facts barely sway us anyway.
Belief In Climate Change Hinges On Worldview
Over the past few months, polls show that fewer Americans say they believe humans are making the planet dangerously warmer, despite a raft of scientific reports that say otherwise. This puzzles many climate scientists — but not some social scientists, whose research suggests that facts may not be as important as one's beliefs.
