Dissonance is caused by an unresolved conflict or tension. Dissonant notes in music are jarring and holding dissonant ideas in our heads also produces an uncomfortable experience. Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort we experience when we hold conflicting ideas or beliefs that can’t be resolved. It’s uncomfortable because we like our beliefs, actions and values to be consistent.
The concept of dissonance is relevant to the climate crisis because knowledge of the climate crisis can create a conflict with existing beliefs. For example, we may try to hold onto a belief that life can carry on as usual, at the same time as believing the scientists who tell us that we need to change to stop global warming. We don’t want our lives to change, and we want change to prevent disaster.
Dissonance can also feature at stages in our journey of coming to terms with the climate crisis. In the early phases, many of us experience a phase of knowing but not knowing, when we’re aware of some of the facts of climate change, but try to avoid facing the full implications of what that means. This knowing and not knowing creates an uncomfortable dissonance. Once something has broken through our defences and we are really aware of the climate crisis there’s no going back to a true state of ignorance. However, it’s a shocking and distressing situation to come to terms with, and one way to cope is to try and shut the information out by going into denial. The problem with this approach is that, though the need to cope is understandable, once you know, you know!1This has been said many times in our peer support group. The internal contradiction produces dissonance. 2These ideas come from Dr Panu Pihkala. He describes the process of coping and changing in response to climate change in his academic paper and in an interview on Gen Dread .
What can we do about dissonance?
The dissonance will be resolved when the contradiction between beliefs or ideas is resolved. There are different ways of accomplishing this, though not all of them are going to result in a positive outcome for the planet. For example, if we are experiencing dissonance because we are worried not enough is being done about climate change, and we are keen to keep flying abroad on holiday we could get rid of the discomfort by:
- justifying our own flying
- trying to find information and arguments that flying isn’t so bad
- telling ourselves it’s okay because we do other things for the environment
- in an extreme case, we might change our belief about the climate crisis by adopting climate denial arguments and beliefs.
These strategies might reduce our discomfort in the short term, but they do nothing to help the climate crisis.
It is possible to resolve the conflicting beliefs in a way that supports our desire to do something about the climate crisis. These might include:
- Building tolerance to discomfort, allowing you to take your time to explore ways to, for example, reduce flying.
- Practice acceptance of the situation you’re in. This could mean thinking about the social and political context that makes it difficult to live your values so you avoid judging yourself harshly or rationalising away the conflict. Instead, you could accept that you’re not ready to give up flying yet but keep an intention to reduce flying in the future.
- Change the behaviour that conflicts with your values.
- Take time to evaluate you’re conflicting beliefs and think about what is true, and what is most important to you and find a way of reconciling your beliefs, or reassessing them. With the example of someone who is concerned about the climate and loves to fly abroad, they may question how important flying is when compared with the climate crisis, they may decide that the climate is most important and think about other ways to enjoy travel abroad.
None of these options is easy. It takes time, patience and perseverance to change habits and beliefs. However, it is possible to reduce the discomfort of dissonance without compromising our values. It’s important to practice self-compassion and kindness through the process. It’s almost impossible to avoid conflicts and contradictions because we live in a society that is dependent on fossil fuels. We’ve grown up enjoying and taking for granted practices that are environmentally damaging, and they are woven into our lives. Transitioning to sustainable lifestyles in a social environment that encourages us to consume environmentally damaging goods and services is a challenge, to say the least.
Sources
🎓Pihkala, Panu. “The Process of Eco-Anxiety and Ecological Grief: A Narrative Review and a New Proposal.” Sustainability 14, no. 24 (January 2022): 16628. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416628.
💻Wray, Britt. “How to Take Breaks from the Climate Crisis without Living in Denial.” Substack newsletter. Gen Dread (blog), January 25, 2023. https://gendread.substack.com/p/how-to-take-breaks-from-the-climate.