Happy Pessimism, Realistic Hope
For years I was a doomer and was triggered by some climate activists attacking doomerism. Some accused doomers of secretly working for oil companies. In reality doomers are mostly pessimistic environmentalists. Some accused doomers of making children unalive themselves by making them depressed with pessimistic messages. These are of course 'ad hominem fallacies'. I don't think attacking the bringers of bad news is the same as being optimistic. And: are you trying to persuade people, or own and humiliate them? But one point these "optimists" made, I finally realized does make sense. The argument is: "people need hope to act". My argument against this point was that doomers don't have children, which is the single most impactful thing you can do for the environment. In trying to be a better and healthier person, I unplugged from the doomosphere. I realized that doomerism, perhaps internet activism in general, is a form of addiction. And every time I sn...