Our educational system has not really explained why climate change has been addressed so timidly. The mystery of our inaction lies deep within us, and I will try here to offer some insight from depth psychology.
Some people simply deny that climate change is a problem while others accept the reality of it but decline to take steps to reduce their own carbon footprint. In both groups, a disconnect from one’s better self is at play, and it’s that emotional or psychological disconnect that I address here.
When I asked Google for background on the subject, its AI function, Gemini, reported:
Climate change denial stems from psychological barriers like cognitive biases, ideological worldviews, and motivated thinking, which lead individuals to ignore evidence due to a desire to maintain comfort, identity, or political alignments. Factors such as psychological distance (perceiving the issues as far away in time or space), distrust in experts, and economic dependencies also contribute to denial. Overcoming denial involves acknowledging these psychological factors rather than dismissing them, and framing climate action in ways that align with people’s values and identity.
This statement is not sufficiently insightful. Why do people perceive the issues as far away in time or space? Why do they distrust experts? Why do people not care enough about future generations to make sacrifices for them? Why is truth being discounted and evaded? Let’s get to the bottom of this.
Humans have a self-centered nature that can impede our capacity to be wise and loving. I suspect that modern influences have made this self-centeredness more problematic, tipping us and our culture into narcissism with its tendency to ignore what’s true and even to actively evade the truth.
Consumerism, I believe, has had a significant influence upon the expansion of narcissism. Consumerism and its manipulative marketing have catered to the human ego. Consumerism has instilled in us a heightened sense of privilege and entitlement. I remember once in my early twenties when, with bank financing, I was able to buy a cool Chevy Impala. I said to myself, “It’s so amazing that I, with my scanty assets, should be able to possess this amazing machine.” My esteem was boosted artificially.
By the mid-1900s, technology had made it possible to defy the boundaries of nature. We were able to drive effortlessly at 60 miles an hour or fly from continent to continent in mere hours. Just fifty years earlier, such powers had seemed inconceivable. This rapid technological leap affected us psychologically, though that didn’t register consciously.
Also back at mid-century, celebrity worship was becoming more common. Movie and TV stars were being promoted as avatars of humanity. Movie star magazines were huge sellers. These celebrities mesmerized us because we saw in them a grandeur we so much wished to feel in ourselves. Movie screens flashed their faces ten feet high in front of us. Unwittingly, we identified with them and compared our circumstances to theirs, which made us more self-centered.
Now we can also kindle a narcissistic instinct when buying a lottery ticket and imagining ourselves being crowned among the “elite.” People can get this artificial boost in self-esteem by owing an assault weapon or a big gas-guzzling truck. With this mentality, we don’t want to be bothered by the needs of future generations. Our intelligence and rationality are impoverished by artificially induced desires and high-powered possessions.
Psychotherapist Alexander Lowen, author Narcissism: Denial of the True Self (1983), said in that book he was astounded by the degree of narcissism he began to encounter by the 1980s. This contrasted with the common repressed neurosis he had treated three decades earlier. Narcissism denotes an investment in one’s image as opposed to one’s self, Lowen wrote. “Narcissists love their image, not their real self.”
The narcissist (or someone far enough along that spectrum) is an evader of truth, both inner and outer truth. Narcissists shun certain truths, many vital to wellbeing, because those truths expose the poverty of their inner life. Sacrificing comforts for the common good feels to them like a dimming of their self-centered point of view and a risk to their self-serving agenda. They live by the self-aggrandizing slogan, “Get all you can for yourself.” That insular mentality ignores existing and impending climate havoc.
The narcissism feels so precious, like the sum of who we are. We feel much resistance to letting go of it. For old people, it makes it harder to die peacefully.
Narcissism seduces people because they feel comfort or reassurance in the sense of grandiosity. But narcissists are also susceptible to great misery when their grandiosity is not validated by others or even when their existence goes largely unnoticed. They become more desirous of possessions not so much for an object itself but as “evidence” of their significance and worthiness. Now they’re operating out of emotional weakness. They’re dependent on their assets or on attention from others in order to maintain a fragile egocentricity. Having a stable ego is all fine and dandy, providing we understand that our ego is the operating system of a limited, superficial consciousness. For many of us, an ego-centered sense of self is the best we can do, and with it we can live an okay life. But it is still an unreliable director of our best and highest interests.
With narcissism, critical thinking is diminished. When our mental powers are weakened, we’re more likely to be under the influence of echo chambers, groupthink, confirmation bias, propaganda, tribalism, and blatant disinformation. We’re not accessing the maturity and wisdom that comes natural to our better self. To deal effectively with climate change, we must be at our best.
For climate safety, the world likely requires the kind of heroic, focused effort that Americans undertook on the home front during World War II. But the extent of narcissism now makes such sacrifice improbable. It’s no accident we have elected a president who appears to have a narcissistic personality disorder and who adamantly discounts the threat of climate change. Our votes reflect our mentality. While only a small percentage of voters are narcissistic in the extreme, people will still vote for a politician who excites their deposits of that mentality.
I asked Gemini, “Is narcissism a factor in climate change denial?” Gemini replied, “Yes, narcissism, particularly collective narcissism, can be a factor in climate change denial. Research indicates a link between higher levels of national collective narcissism and lower acceptance of climate change.” (In this context, I’m giving AI credit for being accurate in its generalized assessments.)
I also asked, why do people who accept the reality of climate change still refuse to do anything about it? Gemini’s answer, a mishmash of mainstream thinking, spins us helplessly in circles.
People accept climate change but don’t act due to psychological barriers like short-term thinking and abstract threats, practical concerns such as lifestyle sacrifices and perceived futility, and political factors like ideological opposition to policy solutions. Inaction can also stem from misinformation, a lack of clear personal connections to the impacts of climate change, and the belief that technological innovation will solve the problem without major lifestyle changes.
Our understanding improves as we go deeper into the nature of our weakness. Narcissism makes us more prone to feeling overwhelmed, and thereby weaker, because it cuts us off from our better, stronger self. Narcissists, in fact, are overwhelmed by their egocentricity and inner weakness. They’re overwhelmed when, in possession of political power, they begin to take extreme positions. They’re being overwhelmed when falling under the sway of a neurotic, charismatic leader. They become irrational because their narcissism makes them less intelligent. They’re quicker to feel threatened, often simply from what their imagination is concocting. In their weakness, they’re desperate to feel certainty because they’re too weak to deal with uncertainty. Their certainty provides an illusion of power.
Dealing with climate change can legitimately feel like an overwhelming problem since our economic, social, and cultural systems are so dependent on carbon-based energy. Presumably, the challenge can be met successfully if we’re at our best. Salvation from climate havoc probably depends entirely on our psychological and spiritual growth.
Yet here we are, largely unaware of the dynamics of our inner nature. Those of us not plagued with narcissism can still be weakened by hidden inner conflict. With inner conflict, a passive weak side of us becomes entangled in a hidden dynamic with an aggressive, punishing side (the inner critic). Without our insight, inner conflict usually remains active and debilitating. It causes us to be thin-skinned, indecisive, and prone to self-defeat. It produces injustice collecting and self-pity.
I asked Gemini, “Is inner conflict a factor in climate change denial?”
Yes, inner conflict is a significant factor in climate change denial. Psychological research identifies several mechanisms by which internal distress and conflicting values can lead individuals to deny or dismiss the reality of climate change as a coping strategy. This is often a defense against feelings of guilt, fear, and helplessness.
Next, I asked, “Does the general population have a good understanding of inner conflict?” Gemini replied:
Most people have an incomplete, rather than a good, understanding of inner conflict. While they can recognize and describe their own internal struggles on a surface level, they often lack insight into the deeper, unconscious psychological dynamics that drive these conflicts. The general understanding tends to be limited to the conscious experience of indecision or distress, without recognizing the underlying motives and fears.
There you have it. These “underlying motives and fears” account for most of our personal and collective dysfunction. For a clear and detailed explanation of inner conflict, consider buying a copy of my latest book, Exposed: The Psychological Source of Misery and Folly (2025). It’s inexpensive, highly rated at Amazon, and free of AI. It’s the scoop on why we’re at a life-or-death tipping point in human history.
