Antrhopocentrism, freeriders and caring

If you have a look outside the window you will realize that things are spiraling towards a state of chaos and collapse, from new diseases to extreme climate conditions, from wars to hate. Among the many issues we are facing as a species, environmental crisis is one of the most severe; if you think about it, it makes sense: in a dysfunctional equilibrium, isn’t the host environment what would rebel first to get rid of an invasive and abusive species such as we humans have been in the past centuries?

Besides, if one would prefer not to look outside the window, still the indoor view is worryingly bleak: the collapse we are actors and witnesses is a 360 degrees phenomena, because it’s the collapse of human species in all it´s aspects, both interpersonal and intrapersonal: ethical, social, cultural and environmental values are crumbling apart because we humans, the main actors of this charade, have decided to ditch the script and barge in on the scene to have more screen time for ourselves. Our hubris, egocentrism and self-centered anthropocentric solipsism have led us down the slippery slope of a spiraling illusions of grandeur, of hundreds of year of believing to be the masters of reality, the creators and the destroyers embodied, the chosen species dominator of all otherness, both alive and not. So here we are, happily and complacently floating like sitting ducks in a collapsing reality that we have brought to a shrieking, sick and dysfunctional state.

But all of this is not new, thing hasn’t always been all roses and flowers in the past: it’s normal for organisms in symbiosis – as we are the Earth – to balance each other, to study each other, in a trial-and-error fashion, across time and generations in order to find that compromise of shared existence that benefits both of them, such that cooperation is more convenient than competition. And here is where lays the dysfunctionality of our overcomplicated the system: when choosing between cooperation or collaboration, each organism has at hart both individual and collective interests, i.e. balancing out what is good for itself and also what is good for the community it’s part of. This would be if the individual still had some care or conception of the community it’s part of; unfortunately, it just so happens that the crisis of values we are facing in modern and contemporary times stems from the loss of a sense of community, which is to say we don’t care much anymore about the suffering of other individuals around us. As we are witnessing all around us, when individualism takes over and overcomes altruism and selflessness it undermines the fabric of society itself. This patter of behavior, called tragedy of the commons, happens every time individual behaviors (let’s say you driving your car) have negative consequences (let’s say pollution) on a common good (let’s say the atmosphere); the unfairness of the process is pretty easy to grasp, and in social psychology the individuals engaging in this behavior are called “freeriders”: literally someone enjoying a free ride at the expenses of the community, scot-free.

Why would any individual, part of a community, engage in any such behavior? Simply because of the short-sighted, instantly gratifying, palliative solution seems to be the best one in terms of here and now while, instead, what should be best on the long run, what would be best for the whole community, what would produce durable improvement is boring, unattractive and not instantly rewarding. Could we ever restrain ourselves from what is tasty, ephemeral and appealing in the now, and instead choose what is dull, tedious and durable in time? I think not, for how addicted we have become to consuming experiences in these huge amounts: from media to merchandise, entertainment to emotions, we are now used to levels of dopamine we could never downscale from that push us forward in these frantic, hyperexcited and hysterical “modern lifestyles”.

And that’s why we are never going to get serious about things, why things will never change as we say they will and human activities will be carried on the same way they have been in the past times. Because to get serious would mean to live worse lives, to start caring about others, to follow through one’s words, be consistent with one’s value, to care and put effort into things, and to do them the proper way

 Why should politicians get serious about their promises, when it’s way easier to wait till the mandate is over and just disappear? Why would you get serious about bettering yourself, when it’s way easier to indulge in complacency and binge consume social media and entertainment? Why should we transition our energy system to a sustainable one once for all, when it’s way easier to pretend once more that renewables and greenwashing are the ultimate solution? Why would you recycle, when it’s way easier not to and postpone the issue till when landfills will be full? Why would you be an emancipated individual consistent with it’s ethos, when it’s way easier to just sheep-think with the masses rather than speaking your mind and standing up for your ideals?

By Mhamed. Volunteer ViTA Project, 2023.