Just a brief follow up on my previous post on climate change, I found this article by Ben Goldacre in my bookmarked for later list. It was written at the time of the Copenhagen summit and explains succinctly some of the reasons why the science of climate change is hard to sell to some people. I especially liked this section where is talking about combating our natural psychological aversion to making sacrifices in the present:

Suggesting that personal behaviour change will have a big role to play, when we know that telling people to do the right thing is a weak way to change behaviour, is an incomplete story: you need policy changes to make better behaviour easier, and we all understand that fresh fruit on sale at schools is more effective than telling children not to eat sweets.

This very much echoes some of the thoughts of thinks like Thaler & Sunstein, who’s book Nudge has become essential reading for wonks and politicians in the last couple of years, advocating policies which create a ‘choice environment’ that almost prods(or nudges, for those who prefer a ‘softer’ prompt) people in the direction of socially positive outcomes without them realising it. It also echoes policy making based on a firm understanding of what motivates and persuades people to take action, based on the thinking of people like Robert Cialdini, who’s work breaks down the different ways individuals can be influenced and then applies these to public policy.