Highlights from the Bioneers Confererence

Photo: ED RITGER

As noted previously, I’m up at the Bioneers conference for a wonderful weekend of learning.  I’m thrilled to be associated with the Bioneers, a nonprofit organization that promotes practical and innovative solutions to global environmental and bio-cultural challenges.

I’d like to share a few highlights from legendary environmentalist Paul Hawken’s presentation this morning.

“The Bioneers is where good ideas come to have sex.  And it’s safe sex, too.  It may be the safest sex available on Earth, as long as you’re not a person or group hellbent on ruining the planet for profit.”  Of course, he got a considerable chuckle with that, but that’s what makes comedy possible, i.e., it needs to be based on at least a kernel of truth.

“I’d wager that everyone in this room, myself included, has tried to change other people’s minds on matters like climate change and other environmental issues, and we’ve all noticed that this almost never happens.  Worse than that, it strains relationships.  I simply want to help, and that means using inviting, accepting language that creates the circumstances in which other people are more likely to change their own minds. Try not to provoke fear.  Fear shuts down the prefrontal cortex (used to analyze data rationally) and opens up more primitive parts of the brain.  Present every problem in the context of a solution.”  I’m obviously a total failure here, so much so that I’m not exactly sure how to change the way I speak and write according to what he said here.

“Climate activists needs to express goals, and goals are nouns.  Hey, I was an English major; I get this.  We tend to use verbs, and verbs that are pretty unappealing.  We want to mitigate climate change.  Do you wake up in the morning and say to yourself, ‘I can’t wait to mitigate something today?’ And the other verbs are just as bad.  We want to slash carbon emissions, tackle this and fight that.  This is a conquest. By the way, can you guess which sex is writing all this?”

Fabulous presentation, as everyone knew it would be.