Visceral Fear

What makes us actually fearful?  It is easy to say that we "feel" fear around climate change, but are we actually feeling fearful?  And when I say feeling, I mean on a visceral level.  Not on a rational or logical level.  I mean, do we really feel it?

I believe in climate change.  I believe we are verging on a crisis.  I believe that climate change isn't something that we get to "believe in" or not.  It isn't an unknown like religion.  It is as close to fact as we can get, because it is agreed on by almost all scientific authorities.  So, it isn't something that I choose to spend time arguing about, because I feel like that part of the debate is effectively over.

That being said.  I don't act as if I truly believe.  What do I mean by that?  What I mean is that I don't cry myself to sleep over specific bills.  I don't put my entire being into being a climate activist. I sometimes drive a car.  I sometimes fly in an airplane.  I buy avocados and bananas. I plan to have children.  I contribute to the problem every single day.  So I can't be that scared.

I suppose there are two potential reasons for my actions.  I could feel a sense of immunity, because I live in a rich country, with lots of water and resources, and don't know what it feels like to live in a state of crisis.  Or alternatively, it could feel too distant, making it hard to fully accept what the potential outcomes might be.  So, what I have pinpointed is that my actions must be a response of the threat being too far removed from me in both space (physical location where I live) and time (climate change is in the future, not now).

On a rational level I know full well that in fact none of us have immunity and that climate change is already happening now.  It isn't some future event that may or may not occur.  I also care about more than just myself, including other people, species and non-living others.  And on a rational level I am aware of the effects that climate change is having and will have on them.  So, from a rational stance I have no reason not to act.  Which, on the flip side of the coin is why I choose to ride my bicycle most of the time, buy local food often, recycle every piece of waste in my house, educate kids about the environment, get involved in politics and so on.  Despite contributing to the problem every single day, I also try to be a significant part of the solution.  I am willing to make (a few) sacrifices.  But, despite my efforts, I am left thinking that in actuality mine is a rather half-assed attempt at saving the world. And if I know, and I believe, and I care, then how can I accept that in myself?

A potential explanation is presented in an article by Elke Weber.  And it relates back to that visceral feeling that I mentioned in the first paragraph. I KNOW about climate change, but I don't FEEL it. Weber says "While these emotional reactions kick in quickly and automatically for the kinds
of risks present in our early evolutionary history, they fail to occur for the more
complex and time-delayed risks we face now."  (Weber, 2006, p 108)  By emotional reactions he is referring to the fight or flight responses that we as humans have to dangers we are confronted with.  If I am near the edge of a cliff I feel that fear in the bottom of my stomach.  But with climate change, I have no bodily reaction. And this is because it is fear of a more abstract concept rather than something immediate and tangible (Weber, 2006).

I guess the only good?!?! news is that climate change is increasingly coming closer in time and space, so our visceral reactions will likely increase.  And perhaps this is necessary.  Because to be honest, most of my actions don't come from a place of fear.  I am not an activist as a response to fear.  I am drawn towards a movement of social change much more from a place of love.  I believe we are capable of living on this planet in a much healthier way. Weber notes that having visceral feelings of fear about events that are seemingly far away in space and time could be further along on our evolutionary journey.  I do know people who seem to feel real fear and distress about the climate crisis.  I do know people who have sworn to never fly in a plane again.  I do know people who only eat food that is grown right around them.  Perhaps they are more evolved?

Or maybe that is just a way for me to justify the luxuries that I choose to keep, despite the facts.


Weber, E. (2006). Experience‐Based and Description‐Based Perceptions of Long‐Term Risk: Why Global Warming Does Not Scare Us (Yet).Climatic Change, 77(1-2), 103-120.