David Hare-Scott wrote:
On Tue, 31 May 2011 15:24:14 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message

Because you cannot get people to do something they believe is
impossible and you cannot get them to work their hardest if they don't
see a positive outcome at some time now or in the future.

Positive feelings don't allow you to do things that are physically
impossible but they a degree of faith allows you to get towards doing
your best. This is the basis of sport psychology, any kind of
leadership and one of the better aspects of religion. It is a
question of motivating people, you cannot motivate people well if they
feel hopeless.

That sort of 'leadership' approach has always given me a case of the squits.
I never watch team sports because of all that jolly hockey sticks coaching
stuff which makes me want to gag. Such an approach doesn't allow for more
than one mode of motivation and I believe that individuals can be motivated
by many and varied techniques/approaches. Give me a rationale rather than
that warm and fuzzy fluff stuff.


I am no team sport fan and the rah rah stuff is no good to me
personally but it does work on most people, especially groups of
males.

Likewise a leader is no use to me unless I have a rational reason for
going where they are going but that ought to be part of the package
anyway by my definition of good leader.

Forget about my examples, let's go back to the original topic. How
are you going to get humanity to change their energy, transport and
food systems?

The approach of rational persuasion based on evidence has been a
conspicuous failure so far. Why? It has been successfully countered
by an irrational denial campaign. Bullshit baffles brains. Or at
least has done this far.

Fear will jog people out of their apathy and get things moving. Once
you have done that what will motivate them to accept the transitional
hardships? Hope for the future. If they feel hopeless they will not
act as effectively, it will take longer and the consequences will be
harsher.

David

I see the biggest problem with people is specialization. People become
dependent on each other. Team sports requires a leader and each member of
that team are specialist for success. People need to become self reliant
for a better life. When a specialist fails, the team fails. If more self
reliant people are around survival will be greater.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)