"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
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.

Yeah. Sad ain't it? :-))

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?

I wish I knew. I suspect that there are few people who actually spend time
thinking and unless/until that happens, how on earth can any change take
place? There has to be a scintilla of thought that there is in fact a
problem before there is either recognition that something has to be done
(and by individuals as much as governments).

People still don't even seem to have made the connection between excess
speed and fuel consumption and yet they still complain that fuel costs are
inordinate but don't seem capable of driving at less than 10 km/hour OVER
the speed limit. If they can't grasp that simple concept, how is anything
more complex going to percolate to the surface in those dim brains?

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.

Yup. Too few brains around being used I suspect.

Fear will jog people out of their apathy and get things moving.

Or keep them frozen like a bunny in the headlights.

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.

Hope must be a realistic possibility I would have thought. Have you looked
at people's houses and gardens lately? Not enough space to do anything
useful except park the 2 cars, the boat/jet ski/caravan trailer and have a
rim of decorative plants around the edge of the pool. A wasted and wastrel
existence TMWOT. I wouldn't let such ******* near my veggie garden because
they wouldn't know a plantain from a tomato.