{"ops":[{"insert":"If you have not seen this documentary, I urge you to view it: "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"A Life on Our Planet"},{"insert":" by David Attenborough, which you can find here:\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfO-3Oir-qM\n\nIn this video, Attenborough, long-time nature historian (now 95 years old) who has traveled the world over many decades studying animals and their relationship with our planet, briefly details some of the sad and appalling implications resulting from human destruction of the earth over his lifetime. He paints a bleak outlook for our future, and that of our children, if we fail to urgently move to a green lifestyle and green economy; but he also gives us reason to hope, through suggestions for immediate action and by illuminating some few sustainable practices already being successfully implemented in different parts of the world.\n\nTo realize a future without catastrophe for humans and other species living on our planet, we need not just ways and means for sustainable practices. We will also need to recognize intrinsic human barriers to our willingness to implement feasible practices that protect the earth over the long run. These fall under the rough headings of egocentric and sociocentric thought – which refer to selfish thinking, intellectual arrogance, and the problem of group think. To read more on these problems, see a partial copy of my book: "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Liberating the Mind"},{"insert":":\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#0563c1","link":"https://community.criticalthinking.org/viewDocument.php?doc=../content/library_for_everyone/128/LiberatingtheMind-OvercomingSociocentricThoughtandEgocentricTendencies.pdf&page=1"},"insert":"https://community.criticalthinking.org/viewDocument.php?doc=../content/library_for_everyone/128/LiberatingtheMind-OvercomingSociocentricThoughtandEgocentricTendencies.pdf&page=1"},{"insert":"\n\nThe health of the earth without question now requires immediate, concerted efforts among groups of people working toward the common goal of sustainability. This cannot be done through our current lenses of competition, selfishness, vested interest, greed and unbridled power. To understand these problems requires a deep awareness of our own egocentric and sociocentric tendencies – for these are what hold us back from creating a world where sustainable practices prevail.\n---\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"To purchase a full copy of Liberating the Mind: Overcoming Sociocentric Thought and Egocentric Tendencies, for yourself or your students, see "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#0563c1","link":"https://www.criticalthinking.org/liberating-the-mind-elder"},"insert":"https://www.criticalthinking.org/liberating-the-mind-elder"},{"insert":"\n"}]}