Bestselling author and CBS news correspondent David Pogue discusses why preparing for climate change is just as important as fighting it, with. Then, you’ll learn why you can make someone less defensive by making them feel validated.
Bestselling author and CBS news correspondent David Pogue discusses why preparing for climate change is just as important as fighting it, with. Then, you’ll learn why you can make someone less defensive by making them feel validated.
Additional resources from David Pogue:
People are less defensive when they feel validated by Kelsey Donk
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/how-to-prepare-for-a-warmer-future-w-david-pogue
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why preparing for climate change is just as important as fighting it, with bestselling author and CBS news correspondent David Pogue. Then, you’ll learn why you can make someone less defensive by making them feel validated.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
When you hear news about climate change, it's usually about one of two things: how bad the situation is, and how you can help to keep it from happening. But our guest today says there's another aspect we're all forgetting: how to prepare for it. If you think that's a pessimistic, hopeless attitude to take, well, just listen to what he has to say. David Pogue is a bestselling author, CBS Sunday Morning science and technology correspondent, and the author of the new book "How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos. We started by asking him why he would write a book like this.
[CLIP 6:10]
Again, that was David Pogue, a bestselling author, CBS Sunday Morning science and technology correspondent, and the author of the new book "How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos. He'll be back tomorrow to tell us some of the weirder things caused by climate change — along with some very good news about our efforts to turn it around.
When someone tells you you’ve done something wrong, it’s important to say I’m sorry. But that’s not always easy. Often, our natural instinct is to get a little bit defensive, even though that can backfire. Luckily, new research from Flinders [FLYNN-ders] University in Australia suggests one way to reduce that defensiveness — and can help us understand why we get defensive in the first place. The key ingredient could be validation.
In one study, the researchers brought in a group of omnivores — people who eat both vegetables and animal products. The participants watched a short documentary about animal cruelty in the egg and meat industry, which the researchers hoped would lead to some feelings of guilt. Then, the participants had a conversation with a chatbot, who either affirmed their choice to eat meat or made them feel bad about it. Finally, they took two tests: an explicit guilt test, where they answered simple questions about how they felt; and an implicit guilt test, which measured how much they unconsciously associated words related to themselves with words related to guilt.
Interestingly, the people who were reassured by the bots were the ones who expressed the most explicit guilt about eating meat and eggs. So while the video on animal cruelty made all of the viewers feel at least a little guilty, they only explicitly expressed their guilt when there was a bot to tell them it was okay to eat meat. The people who were made to feel badly by their bots felt a bigger disconnect — they experienced implicit guilt, but struggled to express it. To the researchers, that suggested defensiveness.
Even more importantly, the people who were told their wrongdoing was okay ended up taking action: they were more likely to donate to an animal rights organization. The people without the understanding bots were less likely to donate.
According to researchers, this is the big takeaway from the study. People who are worried about being accepted become more defensive and are less willing to repair the harm they’ve caused. When people are validated and affirmed, their walls come down and they’re able to make amends.
It’s a tough lesson that might feel a little backwards at first. When someone hurts you, you’re supposed to validate their feelings? But the research suggests this could be a good way to help them understand what they’ve done wrong and do better next time.
Let’s recap the main things we learned today
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CODY: Today’s last story was written by Grant Currin, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Scriptwriting by Cody Gough. Curiosity Daily is produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!