Re-Thinking Our Way to the Future We Want

The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
Inspiring people to think about the world,
their relationship to it, and their ability to
influence it in an entirely new way.
Jaimie P. Cloud, President
www.cloudinstitute.org

What do we want to sustain?
For whom?
For how long?
…and what does brain science have to do with it?
So What Kind of Future
do we Want?

Sustain-ability
“The capability to thrive over time
by contributing to the social and physical systems
upon which we depend”
Jaimie P. Cloud

Sustain-ability
“The possibility that human and other life
will flourish on the planet forever”
John R. Ehrenfeld

Sustain-ability
"A sustainable society
is one that is far-seeing enough,
flexible enough, and wise enough
not to undermine either its physical
or its social systems of support.”
Donella Meadows

Original citation (2006): www.footprintnetwork.org/download.php?id=7654 - updated/adapted 2014

We wouldn’t need
Education for Sustainability if
there was no such thing as
un-sustainable

“All systems
are perfectly designed
to get the results they get.”
(Richmond)

“It is worth noting that
this is not
the work of ignorant people.”
(Orr; 1994)

What are we thinking?
Thinking Drives Behavior
and
Behavior Causes Results

The Ladder of
Inference
I take ACTIONS
based on my beliefs
I adopt BELIEFS
about the world
I draw
CONCLUSIONS
I make ASSUMPTIONS
based on the
meaning I added
I add MEANINGS
(cultural & personal)
I select “DATA” from
what I observe
OBSERVABLE “DATA”
and EXPERIENCES
(as a video camera might capture it)
“THE BOX”
Schema
Habit of Mind
Mental Model
Mindset
Mental Map
Hardwiring
Frame
Paradigm
Cognitive -
Framework
“Our prior
experiences
with the
world inform
what we can
perceive”
-Lisa Feldman
Source:
The Fifth Discipline
(Peter Senge)

Mindlessness is not stupidity.
Mindlessness is a state
in which the brain
is trapped in the past
(operating out of habit)
(Ellen Langer)

Why is it so easy to get stuck
in our thinking?
“Everything that happens
is reported to the brain as absolute fact.”
(Langer)
“Everything is internally consistent
within the frame we are operating.”
(Senge)
“Most people make sense to themselves.”
(Jones)

What is the thinking
that is driving our behavior
that seems to make sense…
…but over time
results in
undermining the health of the systems
upon which we depend?

The Story of the Fish Game
Once upon a time…

Behavior Over Time
40
0 10
Total#ofFish
Time (Rounds)
Indiv Accumulation Fish Stock Group Accumulation

Behavior Over Time
Individual Accumulation Fish Stock Group Accumulation
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (Rounds)
Total
# Fish
36
32
28
24
20
16
12
8
4
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (Rounds)
Total
# Fish
36
32
28
24
20
16
12
8
4
0
Unsustainable Example Sustainable Example

The Titanic
A classic mental model
There isn’t enough
to go around.
(Assumption of Scarcity)
We’re going down, so…

Things are the way they
are and there is nothing
I/we can do about it.
The Bummer

to produce the greatest
benefit for society as a whole
(and vice versa).
-Idea presented by Adam Smith 1776
Maximizing Gains for Self
The invisible hand leads all
individuals, in pursuit of their
own self-interests

“Neoclassical” Model of the
Economy measured by GDP

Social Trap
If others do it,
I may as well….
If no one else does it,
why should I?
What is true if one person does it
is not true if everyone does it.

Theory of Confidence
A Classic Mental Model
The market, technology,
government, or
someone/something else
will take care of it.

It’s Only a Game
Let’s just play
and see
what happens.

Greed
I want a lot
and I don’t care about
the consequences.

Zero Sum Game
Zero Sum Game
You can either win or
lose. I play to win!
Vs
Non-Zero Sum Game
For anyone to win
everyone has to win
because the players are
interdependent.

Anthropocentric
I was thinking
about what I
needed and what
you were going to
do.
Nature wasn’t
even on my mind.

Everything is Substitutable
Resources are unlimited
and everything is
substitutable.
(Something proven
false by biologists &
physicists.)

The Control Freak
I am in control.
What I say goes.

And some people aren’t
thinking at all…

The Results of being stuck
in our thinking
• We often operate without the information we need
• We ignore/can’t see the feedback (believing is seeing)
“If we cannot hear or see feedback,
we cannot perceive relevant data for
our brains to filter” - Ochsner
• We exhibit characteristics of insanity
• Our “solutions” backfire on us or we shift the burden

THINGS CHANGE
Will we?
Life is dynamic—it adapts and evolves
(Nothing so Constant as Change…)
The past is not a predictor of the future.

Genesis

Ptolemy

Copernicus

It all begins
with a change in thinking

Definition of
SHIFTING MENTAL MODELS
• :an altering of one's existing schema, (a
cognitive framework).
As a result of new knowledge, new
information, new experiences and applied
insights, new cognitive connections are
formed and new schemas are developed
Goal: Increased Understanding

Shifting Mental Models
• We can’t “unwire” our brains, but we can“ re-wire”
them. Brain scientists call that reappraisal/reframing;
Educators call it accommodation (Piaget)
• When re-wiring/re-framing/re-appraising, we need
to exercise our “free won’t” …so we can exercise
our free will to think differently

Enduring Understandings
for a Sustainable Future
Practical Idealist
A healthy and sustainable
future is possible.

Live by the Natural Laws
We must operate within
natural “laws” and principles
rather than attempt to
overcome them.
It’s non-negotiable.

All Systems are Nested
in Other Systems

Healthy Systems Have Limits
Tap the power of limits
Note: Please do not confuse the mental model of
scarcity with the reality of limits.
Limits are not a loss of autonomy. They are thresholds
beyond which it is not wise to go…

We Are All In This Together
We are all interdependent
on each other and on the natural
systems upon which all life depends.

Reciprocity Rules
In the context of
interdependence,
self interests are best
served through the
development of mutually
beneficial relationships.

We Are All Responsible
Everything we do, and
everything we don’t do,
makes a difference.

Brain Based Strategies for
• Experiences that transform
• Ask different questions
• Tell stories
• Activate the creative process
• Think about our thinking

Brain Based Strategies for
• Reflect
• Empathize
• Change Perspective
• Focus on the results of our own behavior
and take responsibility for the difference
we make (read the feedback & self correct)

• Some mental models are easier to shift
than others. (Ask Copernicus.)
• The mental models of children and young
people change over time with new
knowledge and applied insight.
• Do the mental models of adults change
over time with new knowledge and applied
insight?

Educating for Sustainability with
the Brain in Mind
cloudinstitute.org/blog/efs-brain
cloudinstitute.org/contact-us
Contact Information

Re-Thinking Our Way to the Future We Want

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