knife fighting for the ego-friendly
Dan Ariely has famously commented on why people don't care about climate change, and how harnessing the power of the ego could be one way to move our behaviours to be more environmentally responsible.
Ego-friendly as opposed to eco-friendly.
Dan argues that if we were to invent something no-one would care about it would be climate change.
Because its real impact will be at some point far in the future, it's effects will be felt mostly by other people other than us and even if I did do something it would be a drop in the ocean such is the scale of the issue.
All of these are recipes for not caring.
Plus we only start acting when we feel something emotionally about the problem, logic isn't in it.
So Dan points to observing Prius drivers as a possible answer.
Driving a Prius promotes one's self image as a good person who is doing their bit, and is a signal to others that they are someone who cares about the environment.
The joke goes that you can spot a Prius driver by their permanent smug expression.
Anyway, the clip is from ABC's The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fightingand is a splendid bit of insight, a smart as anything from any ad planning department and an extremis riff on Ariely's hypothesis.
