Feeling stuck on climate change? Here’s what to do | Kris De Meyer

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

To spark action on climate change, the conventional wisdom says that awareness must precede action — but neuroscientist Kris De Meyer suggests the opposite is true: actions drive beliefs. He digs into the science behind decision-making and shows how you can rewire your brain to get unstuck on big challenges.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day.
0:12.7	I'm your host, Elise Hugh.
0:14.5	When you're tackling a major global problem, it's understandable to feel stuck sometimes.
0:19.8	And fighting climate change is one of those challenges
0:21.9	that can certainly drive us to a kind of helplessness.
0:25.6	In his 2024 talk,
0:27.0	climate neuroscientist Chris DeMeyer
0:29.3	shares a key to stop feeling stuck.
0:32.2	And it applies to all sorts of situations
0:34.9	where we need to take more urgent action.
0:37.7	That's coming up.
0:42.4	When you're working on a big problem like climate change,
0:45.7	it's almost inevitable that there will be moments where you feel disappointed.
0:50.9	What's more of a problem is when those occasional disappointments turn into a feeling of being stuck all of the time.
1:00.5	When you go, oh my gosh, it doesn't matter whatever I'm trying, it just doesn't seem to be making enough of a difference.
1:09.7	How do we avoid getting stuck like that?
1:13.0	Is there an antidote?
1:15.7	I'm a neuroscientist, and about 20 years ago,
1:19.0	I became interested in the neuroscience of polarization.
1:23.5	In the work I did, I learned something really unexpected about how people change.
1:30.3	When you become deeply engaged with an issue, it's usually because you've taken some action first
1:38.3	without having any strong views at that particular moment.
	...

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