The Good, the Bad, and the Bizarre: Guiding Beliefs about Climate Change in a Post-Truth Society

Abstract

This paper begins with Levy's (2023) premise that our epistemic environment is central to solving the problem of bad and bizarre beliefs, especially about climate change, in a post-truth society. It presents some of the reasons for people holding untrue beliefs and examines two conspiracies about climate change and the harmful consequences thereof. Actions are suggested to counter bad and bizarre beliefs, including interventions to strengthen trust and confidence in credible sources, presenting material that disputes false information in a timely and easy-to-process fashion, addressing people's feelings towards the news they encounter and fostering their sense of agency in evaluating its credibility, and building an open society. This is followed by a discussion of epistemic positions in the field of environmental psychology and how non-epistemic values (typically those of powerful and wealthy nations [Cologna 2023]) could be contested. Ways in which (a critical) environmental psychology can guide epistemic action - how people gather and share information - in a post-truth society are suggested. All members of society who participate in generating knowledge are encouraged to reflect on the epistemic community to which they belong and the extent of trust they may place in it.