{"id":1321,"date":"2014-10-09T02:31:19","date_gmt":"2014-10-09T02:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/?page_id=1321"},"modified":"2014-10-09T02:37:41","modified_gmt":"2014-10-09T02:37:41","slug":"on-global-warming","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/?page_id=1321","title":{"rendered":"<!--:en-->On Global Warming<!--:--><!--:es-->Sobre el Calentamiento Global del Planeta<!--:-->"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--:en--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">On Global Warming<br \/>\n(Enrique Amador)<\/p>\n<p>In one of the famous scenes from the Marx Brothers\u2019 \u201cA night at the Opera,\u201d Groucho and Chico are reviewing the clauses of the contract they are about to sign. After an exhilarating sequence where they proceed to read and (literally) tear out most of the clauses, the contract has become just a thin strip of paper. Then both men seem pleased and shake hands. Groucho takes out his fountain pen and gives it to Chico for him to sign the contract. Chico gets it but replies that he can\u2019t sign because he doesn\u2019t know how to write. Groucho shrugs and answers: It doesn\u2019t matter, in any case the pen is out of ink.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe through a simplistic Freudian analysis of the matter we could reach the conclusion that neither of them really wanted to sign the contract, but having repressed to the subconscious the actual desire against it, they just go through a fake process of trying to edit and sign the contract. Finally their ids and real desires win the battle and they end up not signing it.<\/p>\n<p>To me, this scene contains the truth about the real position adopted by most human beings regarding the problem of global warming (and indeed, many other problems in their lives). But before explaining why I think so, I\u2019ll describe some of the current opinions regarding the causes of this problem.<\/p>\n<p>The common and accepted view identifies Global Warming\u2019s causes and classifies them in two types: Natural causes and anthropogenic causes (man-made).<\/p>\n<p><b>Natural causes:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The greenhouse effect<\/b> is the principal cause: the absorption by atmospheric gases mainly H2O, CO2 and O3 (which in turn could have been emitted by natural or anthropogenic causes), of some of the energy irradiated from the surface, energy which is as a consequence of the heat produced by the sun\u2019s radiation. These gases accumulate in the atmosphere creating a layer that is getting thicker and thicker and causing the planet\u2019s warming.<\/li>\n<li>Another natural factor is that the earth goes through a cycle of <b>climate change<\/b>. This climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Anthropogenic causes: <\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The main cause is human actions which generate <b>emission of sprays and greenhouse gases. <\/b>CO2 is the most important and cars are its main cause, emitting 1,500 millions of tons per year.<\/li>\n<li>Another factor is the gradual <b>deforestation<\/b> caused by humans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>From my point of view the anthropogenic cause\u2019s classification is deceitful. I would say that more than causes, what such classification registers are the resulting <i>processes<\/i> by which human beings are making global warming get worse. Only if we try to see behind those processes we could have a glimpse of the real reason: <i>The human being\u2019s \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">desubicaci\u00f3n\u201d<\/span>* in the world.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ftn1\"><b>[1]<\/b><\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p>The Spanish verb \u201cdesubicar\u201d has various meanings: \u201cto put something out of its usual place, position, or relationship\u201d, \u201cto lose one\u2019s sense of direction or feel confused\u201d and \u201cto behave in an inappropriate way\u201d. I believe that these three meanings reflect human beings\u2019 situation at present.<\/p>\n<p>On the first place, the human being has placed himself out of place. He\u2019s not anymore the master of his own destiny, he\u2019s being controlled by external forces (although consciously he continues to think that he\u2019s in control).<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, I think that he\u2019s disoriented because somewhere along his frantic run towards progress, he forgot which was his destination where he wanted to go in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>Third, regarding to \u2018behaving inappropriately\u2019, I think that it\u2019s the logic consequence of the other two: it is difficult to behave in an inappropriate way when one is acting irrationally because one doesn\u2019t know where one is or wants to go; global warming is in itself the best prove of this.<\/p>\n<p>I believe that most people when confronted with the question of their life\u2019s goal would answer that they want to be happy. I wouldn\u2019t dare to try to define happiness, but great thinkers throughout history had dealt with the subject. Bertrand Russell dedicated a whole book to happiness (The Conquest of Happiness, 1930). Albert Camus wrote that \u201cHappiness was the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads.\u201d Erich Fromm said that \u201cHappiness should be something which results from the creative, genuine, intense relatedness &#8211; awareness, responsiveness, to everything in life &#8211; to man, to nature\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, and at risk of seeming cynical, I believe that nowadays many people confuse and even try to <i>substitute happiness with money<\/i>.<br \/>\nI won\u2019t deny that money is an important factor for the achievement of happiness, but again, if it becomes the goal <a title=\"\" href=\"#_ftn2\">[2]<\/a>instead of just a tool, we ourselves become its slaves. We won\u2019t have money to live; we will live to have money. And the same happens with work, everyone knows that it\u2019s necessary to work and make money in order to guarantee our survival; but in one way half of the people are working in jobs that they don\u2019t like and that don\u2019t make them feel as true human beings (Marx said that human potential was what defines human nature, and something that should be developed); and in other way the work becomes our reason for living; we live to work, don\u2019t work to live.<\/p>\n<p>In our Modern Society, Man needs money to be happy, but that doesn\u2019t mean that having that money he will certainly be happy. Likewise, i don\u2019t believe that a quantitative increase in money will mean also an equivalent increase in happiness. Everything will depend on how one <i>lives<\/i> his life.<\/p>\n<p>That \u201cdesubicaci\u00f3n\u201d of the human beings, that submission, trapped in his own illusion of achievement and development of a life that he thinks is what he wants, that quest of \u201cmonetary happiness\u201d; it is not only a cause of global warming, but also makes it a very difficult problem to solve. Because the first step to solve any problem is to be aware of it, to be able to acknowledge it. But Human Beings haven\u2019t done that yet, they have just acknowledged one of the consequences of that problem (global warming), but they haven\u2019t really noticed nor acknowledged its cause: the desubicaci\u00f3n of Man.<\/p>\n<p>We can try to use public transportation more, decrease our use of air conditioners, or even close convenience stores during the nights (one of the effects of Man\u2019s desubicaci\u00f3n, because, were those stores needed in the first place? Just to be able to consume more at anytime and perpetuate the problem?)\u2026 these are all noble and good measures; everything we do will be worthy, but these are not the solution.<\/p>\n<p>I believe that the true solution lies in education. Education understood not only in its academic sense but in a more broad sense; as the process through which the human being acquires critical thinking and the effective use of reason. It could be from parents to children (in the family), at the schools (social agencies), but it should also be self-education. Self-education if we all stop to think for a moment: do we really want the things we think we want? And why? Is that the true way to our happiness?<\/p>\n<p>If we don\u2019t succeed in this education I believe that the only possible \u201csolution\u201d left for the problem will be: ignoring the reality like Groucho and Chico in the contract scene. And if we go that way we could be happy (or at least lie to ourselves and make ourselves believe that we are really happy). Just like Freud expressed:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are two ways of being happy in this life: one way is to be an idiot, the other way is to pretend to be one\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" \/>\n<div>\n<p>*\u201dDesubicaci\u00f3n\u201d is the noun form of the Spanish verb desubicar. Desubicar comes from the latin word ubi=where. The closest translation would be to disorient or to displace, but there is not a unique English word that covers all of the meanings this word has in Spanish (as explained in the text); hence I opted to keep the Spanish word.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--:--><!--:es--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Sobre el Calentamiento Global del Planeta<br \/>\n(Enrique Amador)<\/p>\n<p>En la famosa escena de \u201cUna Noche en la \u00d3pera\u201d de los hermanos Marx, Groucho y Chico est\u00e1n revisando las cl\u00e1usulas de un contrato que se disponen a firmar; tras una hilarante secuencia en la que empiezan a leer y arrancar (literalmente) las cl\u00e1usulas del contrato, \u00e9ste queda reducido a una fina tira de papel. Ambos se muestran satisfechos y se dan la mano en se\u00f1al de reconocimiento. Groucho saca su pluma y se la da a Chico para que firme. Chico la coge pero dice que no puede firmar puesto que no sabe escribir. Groucho se encoge de hombros y responde: Es igual, de todas maneras la pluma no tiene tinta.<\/p>\n<p>Quiz\u00e1s haciendo un simplista an\u00e1lisis freudiano de la cuesti\u00f3n podr\u00edamos dilucidar que realmente ninguno de los dos quer\u00eda realmente firmar el contrato, pero que al haber sido reprimida al subconsciente su verdadera motivaci\u00f3n o negativa a firmar; hab\u00edan procedido a la farsa de intentar firmar el contrato, para finalmente ser vencidos por el id y sus verdaderos deseos sin llegar a firmarlo.<\/p>\n<p>Esta escena recoge para m\u00ed en cierto modo la verdad respecto a la posici\u00f3n que el ser humano ha adoptado con respecto al problema del calentamiento del planeta y muchos otros problemas en su vida, pero antes de explicar por qu\u00e9 voy a comentar algunas de las opiniones actuales con respecto al problema.<\/p>\n<p>La idea generalizada y aceptada identifica las causas del Calentamiento del Planeta y las diferencia en dos tipos: causas naturales y causas antropog\u00e9nicas (debidas al ser humano).<\/p>\n<p><b>Causas naturales:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Se reconoce como la principal causa <b>el<\/b><b>efecto invernadero<\/b>: la absorci\u00f3n por ciertos gases atmosf\u00e9ricos (los cuales pueden ser emitidos por causas naturales o antropog\u00e9nicas), \u00a0principalmentemol\u00e9culas de agua (H2O), di\u00f3xido de carbono (CO2) y el ozono (O3), de parte de la energ\u00eda que el suelo emite, como consecuencia de haber sido calentado por la radiaci\u00f3n solar. Se acumulan en la atm\u00f3sfera formando una capa cada vez m\u00e1s gruesa y causando el calentamiento del planeta.<\/li>\n<li>Otra causa natural es que la Tierra est\u00e1 atravesando <b>un ciclo de cambio clim\u00e1tico<\/b>; \u00e9ste suele durar unos 40.000 a\u00f1os.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Causas antropog\u00e9nicas:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>La principal es <b>la emisi\u00f3n de aerosoles y gases de invernadero<\/b>. El di\u00f3xido de carbono es el m\u00e1s importante de ellos, y los autom\u00f3viles su motivo principal, emitiendo casi 1,500 millones de toneladas al a\u00f1o.<\/li>\n<li>Otra causa es <b>la deforestaci\u00f3n<\/b> progresiva.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Desde mi punto de vista la clasificaci\u00f3n de las causas antropog\u00e9nicas es enga\u00f1osa. Yo dir\u00eda que m\u00e1s bien que causas, lo que recoge dicha clasificaci\u00f3n son los <i>procesos <\/i>por los que el ser humano est\u00e1 contribuyendo al calentamiento global. Tan s\u00f3lo tratando de ver detr\u00e1s de estos procesos podr\u00edamos vislumbrar la verdadera causa: <i>la <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">desubicaci\u00f3n <\/span>del ser humano en el mundo.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>El verbo desubicar tiene varios significados: \u201csituar algo fuera de lugar\u201d, \u201cperder la orientaci\u00f3n, desorientarse\u201d y \u201cportarse de manera inconveniente\u201d. Creo que los tres reflejan la situaci\u00f3n del ser humano en la actualidad.<br \/>\nEn primer lugar, el ser humano se ha situado a s\u00ed mismo fuera de lugar. Ya no es el due\u00f1o y se\u00f1or de su destino sino que est\u00e1 siendo controlado por fuerzas externas a \u00e9l (Aunque conscientemente \u00e9l sigue pensando que s\u00ed tiene el control).<br \/>\nEn segundo lugar creo que est\u00e1 desorientado porque en alg\u00fan momento durante su fren\u00e9tica carrera hacia el progreso, olvid\u00f3 cu\u00e1l era el destino a d\u00f3nde quer\u00eda llegar.<br \/>\nEn tercer lugar, respecto a comportarse inconvenientemente, es una consecuencia l\u00f3gica de los otros dos y es dif\u00edcil no hacerlo cuando uno actua irracionalmente porque no sab\u00e9 donde est\u00e1 ni a d\u00f3nde quiere ir; el mismo calentamiento global es el mejor testimonio de ello.<\/p>\n<p>Creo que al ser preguntados por el objetivo de su vida, la mayor\u00eda de la gente responde que ser felices. No me atrever\u00eda a dar una definici\u00f3n de felicidad, pero grandes pensadores a lo largo de la historia han tratado el tema. Bertrand Russell dedic\u00f3 un libro entero a la felicidad\u00b9; Alber Camus dijo que \u201cFelicidad era la armon\u00eda entre el hombre y la vida que llevaba\u201d; Erich Fromm dijo que \u201cLa Felicidad debe ser algo que resulte de una creativa, genuina e intensa relaci\u00f3n, conciencia y respuesta a todo en este mundo -el ser humano y la naturaleza\u201d. \u00b2<\/p>\n<p>Desgraciadamente, y a riesgo de ser c\u00ednico, creo que hoy en d\u00eda mucha gente equipara e incluso <i>sustituye la felicidad por el dinero<\/i>.<br \/>\nNo voy a negar que el dinero es un factor importante en la consecuci\u00f3n de la felicidad, pero de nuevo, si se convierte en el objetivo en vez de en una herramienta, nos volvemos esclavos de \u00e9l. No tenemos dinero para vivir, vivimos para tener dinero. Igualmente pasa con el trabajo, todo el mundo sabe que hay que trabajar para poder ganar dinero y con ello asegurarse la subsistencia; pero por una parte la mitad de la gente est\u00e1 en trabajos que no les gustan ni les hacen realizarse como personas (Marx habl\u00f3 del potencial del ser humano, dijo que esa era la naturaleza que lo defin\u00eda y lo que deb\u00eda desarrollarse)\u00b3 y por otra el trabajo se convierte en la raz\u00f3n de vivir, vivimos para trabajar, no trabajamos para vivir.<br \/>\nUna persona necesita cierta cantidad de dinero para ser feliz, pero eso no significa que por tener ese dinero vaya a ser feliz. Igualmente, no creo que un aumento cuantitativo en el dinero vaya a aumentar la felicidad. Todo depender\u00e1 de c\u00f3mo uno <i>viva<\/i> su vida.<\/p>\n<p>Esa desubicaci\u00f3n del ser humano, esa sumisi\u00f3n, presa de su propia ilusi\u00f3n en el logro y desarrollo de una vida que cree que es la que quiere, en b\u00fasqueda de esa \u201cfelicidad monetaria\u201d, es la culpable no solo del calentamiento global del planeta, sino de que su problema sea muy dif\u00edcil de solucionar. Porque el primer paso para solucionar un problema es ser consciente de que se tiene, reconocerlo. Y el ser humano no lo ha hecho todav\u00eda, ha reconocido una de las consecuencias del problema (el calentamiento global), pero no su causa, la desubicaci\u00f3n del ser humano.<br \/>\nSe puede hablar de intentar coger m\u00e1s el transporte p\u00fablico, usar menos el aire acondicionado, cerrar los 7-11 por las noches (otra de los efectos de esta desubicaci\u00f3n del ser humano, acaso eran necesarios en primer lugar? Solo para poder <i>consumir<\/i> m\u00e1s a todas horas y perpetuar el problema?)&#8230; son todo medidas nobles y buenas, todo lo que se haga es meritorio, pero no es la soluci\u00f3n.<br \/>\nLa verdadera soluci\u00f3n creo que est\u00e1 en la educaci\u00f3n, educaci\u00f3n entendida no en su sentido acad\u00e9mico, sino en un sentido m\u00e1s amplio, en el proceso por el cu\u00e1l el ser humano es capaz de adquirir un pensamiento cr\u00edtico y una forma de razonar. Puede ser de padres a hijos (en la familia), en las escuelas (\u00f3rganos sociales), pero tambi\u00e9n debe ser autoeducaci\u00f3n.<br \/>\nAutoeducaci\u00f3n si todos nos paramos a pensar por unos momentos; \u00bfde verdad queremos las cosas que queremos? \u00bfY por qu\u00e9? \u00bfEs el verdadero camino a nuestra felicidad?<\/p>\n<p>Si no conseguimos esta educaci\u00f3n creo que solo habr\u00e1 una manera posible de resolver el problema, obvi\u00e1ndolo como Groucho y Chico en la escena del contrato. Y por ese camino podremos ser felices (o al menos enga\u00f1arnos creyendo que lo somos) a la manera que dijo Freud:<\/p>\n<p>\u00abExisten dos maneras de ser feliz en esta vida, una es hacerse el idiota y la otra serlo\u00bb\u2074<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>____________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>\u00b9: Bertrand Russell: \u2018The Conquest of Happiness\u2019, 1930.<\/p>\n<p>\u00b2: Erich Fromm: \u2018The Sane Society\u2019, 1955.<\/p>\n<p>\u00b3: Karl Marx: \u2018Economic and Philosophycal Manuscripts\u2019 (1st poublished in Fromm\u2019s \u2018Marx\u2019s Concept of Man\u2019, 1961)<\/p>\n<p>\u2074Sigmund Freud: \u2018Civilization and its Discontents\u2019, 1930.<!--:--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Global Warming (Enrique Amador) In one of the famous scenes from the Marx Brothers\u2019 \u201cA night at the Opera,\u201d Groucho and Chico are reviewing the clauses of the contract they are about to sign. After an exhilarating sequence where they proceed to read and (literally) tear out most of the clauses, the contract has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001002,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1321","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1321"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1327,"href":"https:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1321\/revisions\/1327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empanishproductions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}