You've probably heard about the marshmallow experiment, where children were offered a choice: one marshmallow immediately or more marshmallows after waiting. The children who agreed to wait and receive more marshmallows later became more successful in adult life. The Stanford experiment demonstrated the significant influence of willpower on a person's success in life, manifested in the ability to make the right choice and stick to it.
Lost Paradise
Perhaps some of the world leaders would also choose one marshmallow right away. Because willpower is evidently lacking in the authorities of leading countries to address the issue of global warming (as well as many others).
In my previous article, where I extensively discussed the relationship between willpower and glucose consumption, I already mentioned global warming, as well as beer. It may seem unrelated, but what about beer? The barley harvest depends on climatic conditions, which seriously concerns brewers. After all, global warming will have a significant negative impact on the supply of beer ingredients.
As you can see, everything is connected. However, people, on the contrary, tend to separate information: divide and conquer. Ken Wilber, in his book "No Boundary: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth," explains why humans tend to separate themselves from the world around them. Wilber believes that dividing the whole into parts is inherent in the very essence of human consciousness and originates from the earliest humans. You can see this by reading the Old Testament, where Adam somehow realizes that he is naked.
Adam fell into a kind of trap, tasting the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. With Adam, all of humanity fell into the trap. We also feel ashamed to be naked (except for nudists and some tribal people). We also know how to distinguish between good and evil, and each person may have their own concept of good and evil. Look at how today the world is divided on many sensitive issues, but everyone believes that they are on the side of good.
Humans tend to create divisions, drawing boundaries in consciousness, on maps, and on the land. These boundaries separate us from harmony, peace, and well-being, just as the first humans were separated from Paradise. The knowledge of good and evil has become a problem not only for Adam and Eve but for all of humanity. We continue to divide rather than unite.
The problem is that this way of thinking encourages us to focus on one thing, forgetting about the whole. We seem to stop seeing how everything is interconnected. However, if you look more broadly, it becomes clear that even seemingly different things, such as beer, glucose, global warming, and willpower, are very interconnected.
Psychologists talk about the dependence of self-control on glucose, while beer producers talk about the dependence of beer supply on global warming. Two different but equally weird studies. Because separating a part from the whole looks so unnatural.
In a few decades, the supply of beer will be the least of humanity's concerns. It's not hard to guess that climate change will affect not only the price of barley or hops. Prices will rise for many other products. Entire ecosystems may be at risk. We already see the consequences of global warming, but instead of systematically switching to renewable energy sources, leading countries will continue to wage oil wars, deforest, and support exploitative farming, which depletes fertile lands. Ozone holes? No one cares; we worry about beer, oil, and profit.
When a child lacks willpower, they grab a marshmallow even before the experimenter finishes explaining the conditions of the experiment. If an entrepreneur lacks willpower, they make dubious decisions for a quick profit and don't worry about the environment in which their children will live later. When such an entrepreneur becomes a president, their mindset doesn't change. The entrepreneur in the presidential chair continues to seek quick gains, regardless of global warming or wars.
One marshmallow, but quickly – this is what entrepreneurs in political chairs need. One marshmallow is the promise with which they bribe their voters. They fight for power and money instead of fighting for the planet and the future.
The Weakness System
Power cannot be trusted if it is not accompanied by responsibility.
– Hans J. Morgenthau
A person cannot concentrate on several objects simultaneously, just as they cannot be in two places at the same time. So, if we separate a part and focus on it, we lose sight of the whole, at least for some time. It is necessary to switch between parts, between levels, without forgetting about the whole. But we forget. Fragmentation, as a habit, becomes a system of chaos. Fragmentation leads to a division between people and within the individual.
Some studies suggest that willpower depends on a sufficient level of blood glucose. The paradox is that a quick choice of sweet marshmallow by participants in another experiment is unlikely to indicate a high level of willpower in a child.
"One marshmallow, but right away" has actually become the slogan of modern capitalism. Everything is done for profit, GDP, the economy... But the problem is not in capitalism; the problem is the lack of willpower. The problem is in a person who continues to divide, extracting a part from the whole – quick money from the common good.
When politicians lack willpower, they make decisions for short-term gains, even if in the long run, it means catastrophe. Especially since the terms of most political leaders are quite short. Weak politicians are interested in elections, but they don't care about what happens after the end of their term.
Capitalism without systemic thinking, without long-term growth strategies, and without values such as ecology and quality of life as guiding principles transforms from a developmental system into something alien and isolated. It becomes as isolated as research on beer or glucose. However, these phenomena can exist separately only in the human mind. In the real world, everything is interconnected.
If a person divides the whole into parts and focuses attention on some parts while ignoring others, it means the trap of dividing good and evil is at work. People fall into this trap so frequently that it has become a systemic phenomenon – a system of weakness that originates from the human consciousness. To confirm this, look at wars, look at what the planet is turning into before our eyes due to the almost complete dependence of civilization on depleting forms of energy. Is this what you call progress?
The lack of holistic thinking and the pursuit of quick rewards can weaken any system, not just capitalism. The weakness of capitalism lies in the pursuit of financial indicators (regardless of human health, the land, or the ocean). The weakness of democracy lies in the media and social networks as tools of influence on voters.
Without a vision of the whole, capitalism transforms from a developing system into a gold rush, and money becomes an idol.
The question arises — did all the children who didn't want to wait and immediately ate the marshmallow fully understand the rules of the game? Perhaps understanding of choice precedes willpower? In the absence of a sufficient level of awareness of the essence of things, any system, even one like capitalism, democracy, or at least self-control, will not function well.
The politicians who choose corruption, war, or sweet promises with bitter consequences either do not understand what they are doing, or they consciously choose chaos. Weak leaders, taking advantage of society's trust, bring difficult times closer.
If we assume that everything is interconnected, can we assume that an armed conflict between two countries will affect the entire world? If the answer is yes, should the politicians in leading countries adequately respond to the threat to world order? In that case, what was the reaction of the United States under the government of Barack Obama or Germany under the government of Angela Merkel when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014?
In 2014, the United States and Europe opted for a quick marshmallow and turned a blind eye to a very big problem. Their leaders thought it was easier to agree to Ukraine losing Crimea, parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, big deal — it's just a territory slightly larger than Switzerland. It was easier to close their eyes to Russia's aggression because this aggressor supplied gas to Europe. It was easier to continue solidifying Europe's dependence on depleting forms of energy (thus dependence on Russia) than to gradually transition to renewable energy sources.
The "lambs'" silence regarding the annexation of another country's territory in 2014 indicated to the "wolf" the impunity of its actions. This led to a full-scale invasion by Russia in 2022 to destroy the entire Ukrainian state. And yes, this significantly impacts the world, including the supplies of raw materials for beer production.
Today, only the UN has documented hundreds of crimes by Russian military personnel. UN reports resemble horror stories: Russians may execute or rape a child, shoot a car at a checkpoint with an entire family. These are documented cases. It is essential to understand that the actual figures of victims at the hands of Russian military are much higher. Only in the occupied Mariupol (Donetsk region), the number of civilian casualties may be several times higher than what the UN has generally registered. Torture and mass burials found in Bucha are a systemic phenomenon found in every region liberated from Russian occupiers.
And even after the revelation of all these horrors, in 2022, Angela Merkel claimed that she did not make a mistake in denying Ukraine NATO membership in 2008. Perhaps, thousands of deaths and millions of shattered lives are not quite fitting content for the announced memoirs of a successful European leader. But can a leader afford to acknowledge only successes and brush off failures?
Polish journalist Zbigniew Parafianowicz, in his book "Polska na Wojnse," writes that the biggest skeptic regarding Ukraine's ability to resist Russia in 2022 was Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan. The U.S. reluctantly provided military assistance, carefully weighing each of its steps.
World leaders thought that Ukraine would fall in 3 days, but even after 3 months, they remained inert.
President Joe Biden claims that the United States is the reason for leadership in the world, and Americans are the most important nation. But if the United States cannot help a democratic state defend its freedom, is this true? It's hard not to agree with the words of the American president about the need to create a new world order because, for now, chaos reigns in the world. And this chaos is growing.
Cultural disharmony
The concept of tensegrity involves a structural principle of connecting elements through compression and tension. Through the compression of certain elements and the tension of others, the entire system maintains equilibrium.
Tensegrity is an excellent demonstration of a system in which everything is interconnected. The balance of the system is preserved because each of its elements is in its place, and all connections work as they should.
Similar principles of tension and support operate in the human body: thanks to ligaments and fascia, the integrity of our skeleton is maintained, allowing us to move. These universal principles can be observed in various manifestations in nature.
In untouched nature, everything is balanced. Then comes humans, observing how nature works, and thinking they know better. Similar to tensegrity models, influencing one aspect does not leave local consequences but leads to changes in the entire system.
At the same time, one should not forget the philosophical principle stating that a change in quantity sooner or later leads to a change in quality. Human intervention in nature will eventually result in climate changes of a new order. And the rising cost of beer is not the worst thing.
According to the director of the Institute of Global Sustainability at Anglia Ruskin University, food shortages caused by extreme weather events could potentially lead to civil unrest over the next 50 years.
Any intervention in the natural environment has consequences. Even interventions that seem positive at first glance can have negative outcomes if the bigger picture is not taken into account.
It may seem harmless to grow crops like corn or wheat, for example. However, when it becomes the sole crop over many acres, problems can arise. The soil may become depleted due to monoculture and monotonous fertilization. Additionally, an abundance of "pests" may emerge. This happens because the animals for which the cultivated crop is food begin to multiply, now that there is plenty of food for them.
But what do humans think? No, humans don't think that they are mistaken; they believe that nature is mistaken. Instead of better understanding the laws of nature (of which they are a part), humans try to rewrite them, squeezing one side of the tensegrity structure. Humans begin to eradicate pests, and the following roughly occurs.
"Ladybugs are eating the harvest! I need to destroy these pests."
"Why is there still no harvest?"
"I eradicated the ladybugs, but in the absence of ladybugs, aphids multiplied! Now aphids are devouring my crop! I must eliminate all the pests! I must poison these plants and this soil so that there is finally a harvest!"
"Will such a harvest be healthy?"
"But at least we will be full!"
"We - people?"
"We, with my family! I have three children, and I'm drowning in debt!"
Perhaps my example was not very accurate from a biological point of view, but people do indeed use chemicals that negatively affect the soil first, and then the plants that grow on it. These plants then end up on the shelves of markets and supermarkets, becoming "healthy food."
Today, consumers have become more knowledgeable about products and buy bread with bran or pasta made from hard wheat. But what about the soil on which these grains were grown? Adding pesticides, growth accelerators, phosphorus, and nitrogen fertilizers to the soil can affect the hormonal systems of men and women. These are the same grains that can be in side dishes, bread, or beer (yes, the same beer that, as we already know, will become more expensive due to global warming). By the way, these chemicals are also produced using gas and oil.
If you thought that meat is different, how can it be if many farmers feed livestock with the same grains? A steak obtained from a naturally grazed bull and a bull fed with grains are two very different steaks. Guess which one will have more vitamins?
Here's a real, widely-known example of human intervention in an ecosystem that occurred in China. In 1958, the government ordered the destruction of all sparrows, considering them pests negatively affecting crops. The campaign to eliminate these birds led to a significant reduction in their population, as well as in crop yields. Locusts, thriving due to an abundance of food and the absence of sparrows, devoured all the crops, becoming one of the causes of the Great Chinese Famine. So, who is the pest — sparrows, locusts, or humans?
In modern times, in contemporary Europe, in the German city of Limburg, local authorities are considering the possibility of killing hundreds of pigeons by having a specially hired person twist their necks. This is not the same as eradicating the sparrow population nationwide and is unlikely to impact the yield of anything. But again, the question arises — does nature really deserve such a 'ruler'? And, in general, what kind of person would agree to such a job? 'What do you do, Hans? - I twist the heads of pigeons! - Oh, how unusual and fascinating!'
When we interfere with nature, there is compensation, much like what happens in the human body: a deficiency or excess of a vitamin or mineral can lead to diseases. Human actions towards nature disrupt the balance, similar to how pressure on one side of a tensegrity model distorts the entire structure.
From the outside, such an attitude towards nature looks like playing with fire. But we call it "civilization" and "cultural farming".
Do you believe in global warming?
In the town where I live, in the center of Ukraine, the autumn of 2023 was unusually hot. The warm weather persisted longer than ever before. Chestnut trees blooming for the second time in a season against the backdrop of yellowing leaves was quite an unusual phenomenon that had not been observed before.
Climate change is not a matter of belief. It is a fact that we can observe. Walking in a T-shirt until mid-autumn was something new for our region, but overall, when it comes to our entire planet, there is little to enjoy.
What does global warming entail, and why should we be concerned?
- Most of the heat is absorbed by the oceans, leading to the emergence of storms and floods.
- Global warming triggers the occurrence of more massive wildfires, which, in turn, further contribute to warming.
- Extreme temperatures negatively affect people's mental health (increased stress, fatigue, the likelihood of depression, and anxiety).
- Rising prices and shortages of food, both in the short term and over 50 years.
- The emergence of pathogens potentially hidden in glaciers due to their melting.
- Complete melting of shelf glaciers can raise the global sea level by more than 2 meters.
- The threat to the existence of boreal forests, which protects the Earth from warming by accumulating a vast amount of carbon.
There is no doubt that the decisive factor behind such a trend is the emissions of carbon dioxide due to the burning of fossil fuels. Until we reduce emissions, extreme events like the record heatwaves we are witnessing in Europe will become more and more common.
— Dr. Leslie Mabon from the University of Open.
Despite all the ongoing climate catastrophes, one American leader said, "I don't believe in climate change... I don't think science knows about climate," and allowed American citizens to extract oil in their own yards. A quick marshmallow in action.
Reduce the country's dependence on oil? Oh, please stop! If the country needs oil, we will pump it! What will our children do, in what environment will they live? Well, with the money earned from oil, they can buy an electric car from Elon Musk or a ticket to Mars right away.
Of course, there can be no illusions that transitioning to renewable energy sources is an easy and quick process. But has humanity done enough for it? For billionaires and politicians, it's easier to explore space than to switch to renewable energy. After all, someone's childhood dream was to make space travel as accessible as trips to a country house. Why don't politicians and billionaires dream of a clean planet? Is it not as romantic, or is it all about the resources of space? A heavy-duty spacecraft will come in handy for these purposes.
The problem with people is that they want to choose one quick fix, but now. People don't want to think long-term. What does it matter what happens when I die, right? Perhaps the next generation will come up with something, they will solve the problems that we couldn't solve. But the next generation comes, and they think the same way. A similar situation is happening with presidents: power changes, and people expect the new president to change in a couple of years what no one has been able to change for decades.
Well, has it become cooler? Overall, 2023 became a record-hot year: new maximum temperatures were recorded in various parts of the world. "The Earth experienced the hottest summer in recorded history. Theoretically, such heat spikes haven't occurred for about 125,000 years," say scientists from the Climate Reanalyzer project at the University of Maine. We are awaiting new records in 2024.
In my article "Willpower in My Blood: How Glucose Affects Success," I defined willpower or self-control quite simply – as the ability to make oneself do something. In the realm of politics, willpower is something more significant; it is primarily responsibility because the leader's decisions affect other people, even future generations. In this case, willpower means making decisions that will be better for people, including in the future. Weakness means making decisions that will please voters now. Yes, unfortunately, this is not always the same thing.
In the world, there are so many leaders willing to turn a blind eye to military threats or scientific facts, and too few who are willing to create a safe world.
For many years, we have been warned about global warming, and what have we done? Continued to destroy nature. And suddenly, warming has come. It's like with alcohol when you think everything is under control, and you can allow yourself a little more and more, and then you're already too drunk to call a taxi. We see the consequences of climate change worldwide. And what are we doing now? We continue to do the same, but it's high time for us to sober up.
We cannot change individual entrepreneurs, politicians, or any other persons... But we can realize that everything is interconnected, and make the right choice for ourselves – be it products, values, or the political leadership of a country.