Reality Sometimes Bites

A few years ago we happened to meet a young family in a playground. We learned that they were so obsessed by the fanciful novels of Anne Rice that they named their little boy after a character in The Vampire Chronicles. They shared all of this enthusiastically. Delightful people, and they didn't even bite.

I don't know for sure, because we didn't ask, but I imagine they understood that the stories were fiction, a pleasant respite from reality. Stories flood the limbic system with prepackaged meaning; no questions, just easy answers and benign exercise for the emotions with the assurance that nobody real gets hurt and there awaits a happily-ever-after ending for fictional protagonists. Bliss.

Rich Kruger, taking over as chief executive at Suncor, tells the story of the oil industry's plan to reduce emissions this way: "I think it goes hand-in-hand with profitability." (Climate Efforts at Suncor May Take a Back Seat: CBC News, May 12, 2023.) Easy. Bliss. No worries. Suncor sucking oil for profit forever.

Reality, on the other hand, is major work for the neocortex with implied expense, effort and risk. (Alberta's Wildfires: CBC News, May 12, 2023.) Reality sometimes bites.

If we exchange reality that bites with pleasant fiction, we miss the opportunity to avoid the worst and make things better. Chris Turner leads us out of this trap in his book How to Be a Climate Optimist, available from Kobo.com as an eBook or audiobook read by the author. We have been listening for a few days. Another excellent resource for those who belong for real to Planet Earth.