Tonight I found my cosmic perspective again. I must have misplaced it.
I lay on my back at night and just looked up at the sky. It’s a good time for that, as you can see the Perseids in the form of shooting stars.
The cosmic perspective allows us to place what is happening on our planet in the larger context of the cosmos. And everything becomes smaller, less important. Problems suddenly no longer seem so big on a cosmic scale – after all, they only affect one planet at most.
But we really do have the biggest problems for us right now – the climate crisis affects the entire Earth and everyone who lives on it. So one thought has become firmly entrenched: we as humanity are – from a cosmic perspective – currently in a probationary period. Will we manage to look after our planet responsibly so that we can survive in the long term? We shall see!
We humans enjoy a weird bunch of stuff. Beer. Modern Art. Blue Cheese. Hiking. Opera. Especially Opera – that has to be the craziest art form anyone can enjoy, right?
But these things grow on us over time. The more we spend time with something weird, the more we enjoy it, even if, at first, we didn’t like it. Acquired tastes are all around us. I’m pretty sure everyone of us has acquired a taste for something that others find weird or off-putting.
To ever get to the actual enjoyment of an acquired taste, we have to suspend our initial rejection of the new thing. We have to be curious and give it time. And we’ll usually be rewarded by the awesomeness of something new we’ve learned to enjoy.
But what if we just stay on the defensive and never try something new? We’ll be poorer for it. If we stay in tribes that reject each other’s tastes outright, our experience will be limited forever.
With society more polarized, I find it harder these days to be open to new tastes – in all meanings of the word. That includes new thoughts & concepts. For me, that makes it even more important now to suspend our immediate and total rejection and give other humans some time.
And while I’ll always reject some concepts (intolerance, for example), I also learned quite a bit by suspending my defensiveness and open my ears to the worries of the currently protesting farmers (here in Germany).
Also, I’ll probably never learn to enjoy Opera … it’s not for me.
Why are believers so bad at dealing with death? All Christian believers I know don’t really believe in the afterlife. When it comes to the (potential) death of their loved ones, they truly believe that death is the end.
I’m deeply confused. Believers often spend countless hours in churches, listening to priests discuss life’s big topics or whatever. But what does that accomplish, if it doesn’t even prepare them for the difficult situations in life?! Dealing with death is often a challenging situation for people – understandibly so. Why don’t religions manage to do prepare their believers at all?
Contrary, all atheists I know are well-prepared to deal with death. They’ve read some basic philosphy, maybe – and in my experience, even children’s books about philosophy give good advice on dealing with death.
So, what’s religion good for, if it doesn’t even give comfort when it matters?
„Don’t bullshit, just think.“ – That’s been my motto for a while, and it’s one that I try to live every day.
As a self-identified scientific skeptic, critical thinking is a huge part of my identity. That doesn’t make it easy, though. Every new challenge, every new project is also an exercise in critical thinking.
Are we making too many unfounded assumptions? Are we just following our own biases? How can we check if we’re really making progress?
As I’ve dug deeper into positive impact and moving the UN SDGs forward, I’ve noticed – again – how critical the skill of critical thinking is. Many teams & individuals are absolutely convinved they’re contributing to a better future by fighting gene technologies, for example. Others create digital tools based on unvalidated assumptions and build the wrong features. Others again propagate biodynamic farming. What a waste of time, potential and motivation! The opportunity cost is huge.
Think how much more progress we could make if we focused our energy on moving forward only the initiatives that really work.
I’m very thankful to have guides in this mess, for example the Project Drawdown or the Science Based Targets initiative – they provide information that helps me focus on what really matters to solve the problems of our time.
I love cross-domain ideas. This time, I’ve brought one from classic menswear. Yeah, really!
For the longest time, I’ve not cared much about clothing – I just bought what I needed. But fashion is a hugely inefficient & wasteful industry – with ~10% of global emissions.
It “clicked” for me once I head a menswear expert talk about the concept of “cost per wear”. Thinking about the cost of clothing not in terms of the cost for a piece, but the cost per wear, corrects my incentives. No longer will I look for the cheapest deal, but I will look for a long-lasting – potentially expensive – piece, because the cost per wear will be lower that for a cheap piece. And I realised, for example, that I own a couple of wool 🐑 sweaters for more than 10 years, but none of my cotton pieces have lasted that long.
This concept transfers quite well to other domains, I think. For sports or kitchen equipment, it might be “cost per use”. For entertainment, I experimented with comparing “cost per hour”.
But what about my work? What should my clients consider about my cost?
Here are some ideas:
- Cost per impact (e. g. ton of plastic recycled, ton of CO2e reduced)
- Cost per active user
- Cost per time/money saved (e. g. through more efficient processes)
- Cost per reduced risk
- Cost per reduced downtime
- Cost per improved NPS/CSAT score point
Isn’t that an interesting consideration? For those of us who want to provide real, lasting value to our clients & partners, I simply love this idea.
I’m pissed with vegan & vegetarian food. Ok, maybe it’s mostly salt-reduced, fat-reduced, flavor-reduced vegan restaurants that pissed me off. Vegetarian & vegan cooking is one of the big ways that people try to eat more sustainably. I think it’s not the best way. Here are my principles for planet-friendly cooking that also help make things taste good.
1. No cow, no sheep, no goat, little milk
The biggest climate impact of our food usually comes from cows, sheep and goats. And their milk. That’s why I never cook these types of meat, and try to reduce using dairy products to an absolute minimum. Vegan dairy products taste really good these days.
2. Use meat for flavor, not as the main component
Products like Guanciale, Pancetta or bacon provide a lot of flavor per weight. Ground meat can also help distribute tons of flavor in a dish, even if only little is used. I prefer those instead of the nearly flavorless lean meat (that is also more expensive for some reason). Similarly, products like dashi or fish sauce maximise flavor without having a strong climate impact (because so little is used for each dish).
3. Game is game
Local game is just awesomely sustainable. I love boar or deer, and it’s pretty easy to get here in Germany. Wild boar are pest here, so they need to be killed anyway – of course we should then also eat them. Same goes for local fish, which is common in Germany, even though it’s usually farmed, not wild.
4. Legumes rock!
Lentils, beans, chickpeas … all make great bases for awesome dishes. Most people have never eaten bean burgers, but those are the best burgers that there are. Falafel is another great example – it’s one of the best dishes one can make (also nutritionally), and it has an extremely low climate impact.
5. Cultivate Umami & Fat
Most vegan foods lack flavor. Sorry, but it’s true. There’s also an easy fix: add enough fat and umami. Fat is easy, high quality olive oil is just the start here. You have to work for your umami, though. Learning from the Japanese cuisine has helped me the most: miso and soy sauce are umami bombs! Fish sauce and tomato paste are also great contributors, and of course alliums (onions, garlic, …). Browning is also a big win – a hot wok is a vegetables best friend! Using sweeteners and sufficient salt neatly rounds out the flavor of any dish.
6. Minimize food waste
The key to reduce food waste for me was to think about cooking in components, not in dishes. I might roast some veggies or cook some legumes one day, and used it over the next couple of days in multiple meals. Roasted broccoli might be a tortilla topping on day 1, pasta sauce ingredient on day 2 and a bowl topping on day 3. Preparing components ahead of time also speeds up cooking, and can even prevent ingredients from spoiling. Components are also easier to freeze than full meals are. With meals, thinking about the best way to reheat them while maintaining texture & flavor also helped me reduce waste. Pasta & pizza reheat best in a pan (where they don’t get soggy), for example.
Two of the most important people of my life have recently died. My grandfather, who was like a second father to me, died in 2019. My father died recently, at the end of 2021. After both their deaths, there were the respective festivities that christianity prescribes. And I felt they both were lacking an honest look on the lives of the deceased. This forced me to reflect on how I as an humanist and atheist reflect on someone’s life.
I’m going to outline the general principles here, that can be applied to reflecting on anyone’s life. I’m also going to bring them into the context of my fathers life – a life well lived.
Impact on Themselves
First, let’s examine the person’s relationship with themselves. How did they treat themselves? What were their personal goals? What did they sacrifice to achieve their goals? What can we learn from all that?
My father lived 150%, one might say he was burning the candle at both ends. But that also means he lived fully, in the moment, not in the future, which is a virtue I still strive to mirror. I feel he had achieved all his personal goals and was at peace with himself when he died – even though he was only 61 years old. He derived too much pleasure from buying things – which led me to try to suffocate that same impulse in myself.
Impact on Individuals
Now their relationship with us and other individuals. While reflecting, this maybe the most important perspective to us personally, because it also includes the impact this person had on us. What did we learn from them? What did they want for us? How did they shape our relationship?
My father showed me – by example – the boundless joys to be had listening to and making music. He also taught me how to make up my own mind and come to decisions quickly, not idle for too long. I think my father wanted me to become an independent and confident person, and only when necessary, pushed me in a direction to help me get there. He also showed me that it’s possible to be a family person that supports their kids, a passionate doctor who found his calling in helping people and still retain a strong personal identity.
Impact on Their Communities
Time to zoom out one step and look at more than individuals. What direct and indirect impact did the person exhibit on their communities (be they local or digital)? What communities did they inhabit and how did they change them? Did their actions inspire examples? How did they treat strangers whom they might never meet again?
My father was a bit of a recluse regarding the immediate local community of his village. But when it mattered, when the four neighboring houses were filled with refugees (from Syria, mostly), he not only donated heaps of money to help, he also took it upon himself to personally be there for them, finding old bikes and making them road ready for the refugees, giving them the gift of a much higher freedom of movement – amongst many other helpful activities. That phase of his life made me insanely proud of him. As the seven-year president of the local sailing club, he tried to foster an environment of positive competitiveness and skill growth.
Impact on Society
Another zoom-out. Let’s look at the rest of humanity – society as a whole, and the person’s impact on it. What role did they play to move society into the future? Which cog in which machine did they represent? How did their utopia look like?
My father was a doctor by calling. He played that part very well, always stayed reasonable and science-based and thus also moved his profession by practice into a more science-based future. He spent most of his considerable income on music and art, and became somewhat of a local art beneficiary for at least 10 years – and through that small role, helped society move into a more beautiful future.
Impact on the Environment
And lastly, let’s not look at the impact on humans any more, but the impact on everything else. How did they contribute to a more sustainable way of life? What did they do for the environment? Have they changed their impact on the environment over time? In which areas were they exemplary?
Politically, my father supported the progressive instead of the backward-looking, the reasonable over the fearful. Other than that, there is not too much to say about my father on this topic.
In Summary
No person can shine from all perspectives. I imagine everyone’s lifes as a branch with five leaves – like an elderberry leaf. But differently from nature, a persons branch has five differently sized & shaped leaves. Some people exerted their impact mostly on individuals. Some forewent individual relationships to pursue higher goals for society or the environment. Which means that maybe one of their leaves looks quite wilted, because the person spent no time to nurture it.
I’m convinced that any reflection of a person’s life should forego the wilted leaves and rather not mention much instead of delving in a person’s shortcomings – with the exception of shortcomings that one can draw a useful lesson from.
Maybe the content of a person’s elderberry leaf also helps us understand a person better in retrospect. It definitely helped me to understand my father better.
These five leaves can also be seen as the five fingers of a hand – they make up the person’s handprint, also known as the sum total of positive impact the person had on people & planet. Unfortunately, people don’t just have handprints, but we also leave footprints – the sum total of negative impact (maybe measured in CO2 equivalents) a person has left behind. While I wouldn’t encourage anyone to try to compare handprint and footprint, I can clearly say this: while I will strive to match or exceed my father’s handprint, I will also strive to stay vastly below his footprint.
The discussion about how to deal with climate change consists of two rough perspectives: one of sacrifice (we need to reduce travel, purchase less, …) or one of techno-utopianism (creating ways to keep doing what we do, without negative impact). While the techno-utopian extreme might seem desirable, the extreme position of sacrifice would be suicide, which isn’t quite so desirable. As always, the solution we truly find is probably one in between: some regulation to avoid stupid waste of energy, but also create a lot of new opportunities.
What I often miss in the discussion, though, is this: What are we doing this for? What’s the point? I don’t like the goal of saving the planet. I don’t care much about the planet – what good would earth be, if no human lived on it? Without anyone to conciously experience the beauty of life on earth, the planet’s not worth much in my view. The ultimate goal, why we fight climate change, should be to preserve experience in all of its beauty. Here are a few examples of that beauty:
- Risking one’s life just for fun, doing extreme activities.
- Driving a Porsche 356 through Antarctica.
- Try to learn everything there is to know about everything in the universe.
- Dedicating one’s life to learn a weird, complicated musical instrument.
- Building a miniaturized brick castle from millions of parts, spending many years doing so.
- Meditating on the side of a mountain for 20 years.
- Spending one’s life travelling the planet, meeting a plethora of cultures.
- Organizing huge events where millions of people meet & share experiences.
- Paddling a canoe across the Antlantic Ocean.
These quirky and weird experiences often don’t seem to have a point, as it’s visualised beautifully in The Culture Series, where other (alien) races miss the point of The Culture (= humanity). Not having a point is – in my view – exactly the point of it all: realizing the full range of (human) experience.