Luck, with Will Snell and Anita Sangha Artwork

Your Brain On Climate

Psychology vs climate change: what we think, why we think it, and how it all adds up to a planet-sized emergency. Each episode host Dave Powell interviews experts in how our brains work - from PhDs in psychology to writers, activists and beyond. They'll talk about how their brains and our brains do (and don't) work, and how all of that might help make sense of the climate crisis - and possibly what to do about it.

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Your Brain On Climate

Luck, with Will Snell and Anita Sangha

July 31, 2024 • Episode 32

You are so much more lucky than you think, even if you think you're not.

Most of us are dead proud of the good things we've done, and we tell ourselves how hard we have worked and how much we deserve it. But unfortunately we don't. This also works the other way round: we are never as much to blame for our 'failures' as we think.

Thing is most things in life are down to luck: not just whether you win the lottery or meet the perfect person, but deeper stuff. Like who your parents were and where (and when) you were born. That's a big idea to get your head around and it runs counter to most things our society tells us. And it's as true about climate change as anything else - what it means to us, and how important we think it is.

Joining Dave this episode are Will Snell and Anita Sangha from the Fairness Foundation. They talk all about their brilliant and challenging report, Rotten Luck. You'll never look the same way at someone down on their luck again.

Owl noises:
— 14:23 - Branko Milanovic says here “80% of your income can be explained by the two factors of your country of birth (60%) and your parents’ income position (20%)”.

— 19:38 - Just World Theory, courtesy of the excellent Decision Lab.

— 31:02 - Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry for the Future: “chilling yet hopeful”.

— 36:18 - The Welsh Well-being of Future Generations Act is here.

— 36:49 - all rise for the UN’s Summit of the Future, September 2024.

— 40:45 - Over to Wiki for more on luck egalitarianism (or read Will’s report).

Your Brain on Climate is a podcast about human psychology vs the climate crisis: what we think, why we think it, and how it all adds up to a planet-sized emergency. Contact the show: @brainclimate on Twitter, or hello@yourbrainonclimate.com.

Support the show on Patreon: www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.

The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell, who you can find @powellds on Twitter. Original music by me too.

Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.