By Dr. Manijeh Motaghy, Organizational Psychologist, UCLA Mindfulness Affiliate Teacher, Author of Mindful Life Optimization, Founder and Program Designer at Perfectly Here
Hello Caring Reader,
At the heart of the global dialogue on climate change, there’s often an emphasis on tangible solutions. E.g., cutting carbon emissions, promoting sustainable agriculture, and developing cleaner energy sources. Alongside these undeniably critical solutions, there’s another dimension that, in my opinion, deserves equal attention: human development and Human Software Optimization.
The Planet Positive 2030 initiative chaired by Dr. Maike Luiken and her team stands as a testament to the collective will of humanity to address the pressing challenge of climate change. Through countless contributors, these admirable efforts lay out a wide range of recommendations to make our planet a more sustainable home for this and the future generations. Many of us, among these contributors, also advocate for holistic human development to ensure effective results.
I believe it is instrumental to address the very roots of most human issues, including climate change, which is operating through faulty perceptions shaped through false beliefs, biases, and unhealthy values. Human beings, in many ways like computers, operate based on a software or life template that is programmed throughout life and experience. Our brains are also predictive machines and function very much like algorithms do. They’re programmed to calculate, predict, and respond accordingly. And our perceptions are biases influences our human algorithms, which is also where we can influence change in optimizing the human software by revising or re-coding these human algorithms.
While some experts might argue that individual change might not bring about significant transformation to help climate change, decades of research, development, and experience in training and coaching has afforded me an intricate understanding of the human psyche and the realization that if our internal software is not aligned with the principles of sustainability and interdependence, even the most advanced external solutions might fall short in the long run. Without inner reform at a large scale, the human drive for gaining greater wealth, power, and control will remain intact and continue to keep inequalities and environmental issues that cause tremendous pain and suffering alive.
Let’s consider an example: Imagine a small town by a serene lake. The lake has always provided the town with fresh fish, and its shores have been a hub for community gatherings. One day, a corporation sees an opportunity to set up a large factory by the lake, promising the town more jobs and economic growth. Seduced by the prospect of wealth, the town officials and many residents support the initiative. As the factory begins operations, it starts discharging pollutants into the lake, despite existing policies meant to protect the environment. The fish population dwindles, the once pristine shores become littered, and the community’s health declines. This scene is not so foreign. Is it?
Now, one might argue, “Policies we’ll put in place will fix climate change and prevent such a catastrophe.” The reality is, while policies can act as safeguards, they are always influenced by those in power. Here in the US, we have seen government changes, the next might overturn some effective policies that may not be beneficial to them or their constituents. In other cases, humans running or advising corporations find loopholes, exert influence on policymakers, and push for more lenient regulations. The pursuit of immediate economic gain, driven by a few, overshadows the long-term well-being of the majority and the environment. While advocates can work hard to ensure policies are robust and transparent, we can also work to create a shift in human perception and realization, that the well-being of all living beings are essential to a thriving life.
Negative Algorithms Will Continue
There was once interconnectedness between humans and nature. Humans were coded with algorithms that produced proper perceptions of nature, it’s role, and human responsibility to it. In modern times, cities, cars, and material life re-coded generations away from the wisdom of nature. Today’s humans, for the most part, are undereducated about the intricate web of life, which is the source of unlimited benefits that satisfy our needs, and how not to disrupt these natural benefits. While we can make cities greener, improve policies, and implement environmentally friendly measures, if the algorithms of human mindset remain unchanged, running with the same codes that produce faulty perceptions, resistance continues, and the future generations will inadvertently lead us back into this crisis.
Recoding the Human Software
In addition to external changes, we can dive deep into the essence of what makes us human. How we perceive the world, how our actions reflect our values. And most importantly, how we can ensure that our daily life decisions and habits are in harmony with the environment.
I’ve been re-coding my own and my students’ human software for decades to acquire mindsets and habits of living with more ease, consideration, kindness, wisdom, and compassion, to be authentic and live with self-confidence. Recoding Human Software is a term I use to encapsulate the idea of developing and optimizing the program that runs our lives. Not just learning how to live with ease, compassion, and authentically, but also to understand our brain’s inherent Cognitive Biases, and overcoming them to align with nature and laws of interdependence. A Mindfulness approach.
Mindful Life Optimization: A Path Forward
Being and living Mindfully has gained significant traction in the past decades and at times it’s presented as a novel approach to modern challenges. However, Mindfulness is not a newfound concept or way of life. Long before the age of rapid technological advancement and urbanization, many cultures, and their ancestors inherently embodied and practiced Mindfulness in their daily lives.
Here is how I describe Mindfulness:
“Mindfulness is an active (not mere passive observation) mental quality and skill; it is uncluttered, unclogged, aware, and alert; it’s being passionate about understanding the truth of experience and remembering to return to the tasks at hand with an intention to create harmony within oneself and for the world.”
Notice, there are 3 distinct components to here: Alertness, passion to understand, and an intention for harmony within oneself and for others and the environment. All three components are integral to what the Buddha presented as a Mindful state and quality. There also are four ways one can enter a mindful state: Through the body, feelings, mind, and the truths of life. The results are lacking stress, anxiety, and dissatisfaction in life. With the lack of stress, anxiety, and dissatisfaction, there is natural joy and peacefulness that is fulfilling. Without so many distractions and the drive for personal agendas, it was much easier, especially for indigenous people to live Mindfully and happily.
Take, for instance, the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. Their profound connection to the land or country has not just been geographical but deeply spiritual. Every action, whether hunting, gathering, or performing ceremonies carries out with a dear sense of respect and awareness of its impact on the environment and future generations. This intrinsic Mindful living ensures a living in harmony with nature for tens of thousands of years. Such cultures care for all of us, enabling past, present, and future generations to continue benefiting from the environment. and it is our responsibility not to disrupt this harmony.
Similarly, the Native American tribes still hold a sacred bond with the Earth. Their rituals, dances, and stories emphasize the interconnectedness of all life forms. A deep belief in taking only what’s needed and giving back to the Earth. Being intertwined with nature facilitates an inherent understanding of nature’s sacred regenerative process and the need for balance to enable Mother Earth to continue supporting all forms of life.
Such ancestral wisdom from indigenous cultures around the world offer invaluable insights. It reminds us that while the term ‘Mindfulness’ might be relatively new to modern discourse, the essence of living consciously and harmoniously has ancient roots.
Modernizing Wisdom
With forced colonization, competing for land ownership, driving indigenous people out of their homes and lands, in places like Australia and the United States, assimilating their children into western cultures and belief systems and massacres, many of these natural ways of living are hindered, to say the least. Some may have been completely lost in developing countries. Ignoring and excluding the wisdom of indigenous people is an important factor in the loss of balance within earth and life as we know it.
However, we are also intelligent beings, or we love to believe so. We can optimize ourselves and life on the planet by effectively incorporating the wisdom of these ancestors into our modern ways of life. Today’s Mindful living could entail simple reflections and actions, such as learning more about ecosystems in our own living environment. E.g., honoring the role and functions of a single mosquito before we set out to exterminate it or kill them all. Asking, why does this creature exist, anyway? How might it benefit my life? How can I deter mosquitos from sucking my blood, without killing them, which by the way, it’s the pregnant female mosquito that bites humans to feed its babies. Nothing personal to us, just living their lives, as we would. Personally, I boil peppermint or citronella leaves, which I grow in my garden, make tea, pour it in a spray bottle and spray around me and my guests during the hours mosquitoes come out. It works really well. They don’t like these plants, while making the air in my environment feel fresh.
Another direct negative outcome with opting to kill insects or any other creature is the anxiety, irritation, agitation, and hateful feelings that we have to harbor while encountering and getting rid of them. This suffering is extra and can be eliminated by understanding the way of life and responding to such issues wisely.
From a Buddhist perspective, where modern Mindfulness stems from, this optimization process would entail 1. Understanding and recognizing the root causes of our dissatisfaction and distress both for our personal as well as planetary well-being, 2. Remedy or dry out these root causes by incorporating a wise, compassionate, clear path. Within this process comes education and development before reaching transformation and optimization. Some of this education and development includes understanding the laws of cause and effect and interdependence. That everything that comes to be, whether it’s a thought, feeling, choice, action, or anything else in the environment depends on some other cause(s) and condition(s); that every action has a ripple effect in every situation and process including natural or constructed ecosystems. Then, providing examples, having individuals ponder on and test these theories to understand for themselves. Knowing for oneself how cause and effect works, for example, can potentially shake the core of habitual living, give rise to presence, accountability, and inspiration for further development.
Overcoming Autopilot
Though living consciously, being present in one’s choices, and understanding their implications are keys to change, the brain’s mechanism of autopilot prevents most people from converting overnight. This is due to our wiring, programming, and brain’s efficiency mechanism and budgeting We can write about sustainability, offer ways people can be better consumers, develop sustainable products, support eco-friendly initiatives, or urge people to simply be more aware of their consumption patterns and they can still ignore them. Especially, if they haven’t yet experienced the dire consequences of climate change for themselves. They may see claims of climate hardship far in the distance and not relevant. I know, I was one of those people until I began to look at what caused me dissatisfaction and suffering in my personal life. Little by little as I decoded biases, those that really caused me emotional pain and relational challenges, rewired my programming with healthier codes and increased a sense of responsibility for my actions and happiness, I began to see my relationship to the planet.
Today, as a behavioral scientist and human development expert, I know that without inner transformation to undo the causes and conditions that brought about the situation we’re in, reversing climate change could be greatly challenging and unsustainable. While impacting global policies, driving initiatives such as implementing bicycle routes and increasing public transportation, clean water act, and hundreds of other solutions are vital, integrating education, training, and development can ensure these efforts are more holistic and adaptable to create long-lasting change.
I summary, I believe by optimizing human algorithms, we can ensure sustainable climate actions and empower the trajectory of humanity towards happiness.
Applauding Planet Positive 2030
The Planet Positive 2030 project is a beacon of hope in these challenging times. I’d like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to its founder and every individual contributing to its vision. Your efforts are shaping a better future, and with the combined approach of external changes and internal transformation, we can look forward to a world where humanity and nature coexist in perfect harmony.
To everyone reading this, I say, it’s not easy to be a human and live in complete harmony with nature. But we can embark on a journey of self-healing, self-love, and further development and support the healing of our planet.
Thank you for taking the time to read and reflect. Together, we can make a difference.
If you’d like to contact me about this blog or any other related matters, please write to me at [email protected]
Or visit PerfecltyHere.org for more resources.
Warm regards,
Dr. Manijeh Motaghy.
Resources:
- Cognitive Biases: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/confirmation-bias
- Mindfulness: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3679190/
- Aboriginals: https://www.natureboundaustralia.com/aboriginal-culture-wisdom-enlightenment/
- Native Americans: https://blog.nativehope.org/we-are-the-land
- Colonization: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/aboriginal-australians
- Massacres: https://www.commonground.org.au/article/coniston-massacre
- Benefit of Mosquitos: https://www.baycounty-mi.gov/MosquitoControl/Top10MosquitoFunFacts.aspx
- Information on Mosquitos: https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/mosquito-bites/prevent-mosquito-bites.html
- Brain budgeting: https://sevenandahalflessons.com/notes/Extended_notes_for_Seven_and_a_Half_Lessons_About_the_Brain