What is Radical Acceptance?

Lake Michigan as seen from Consumers Energy Scenic Overlook, Ludington, Michigan

One of the hallmarks of this blog is to promote acceptance of the predicaments we face. I've written quite a bit about acceptance this year, primarily due to seeing so much non-acceptance of the basic facts surrounding these predicaments. As I wrote last week, non-acceptance of the facts doesn't change said facts nor does it help in any way. Still, I admit that I have been rather repetitive in some of my writing, and that was on purpose. My lack of agency in this matter is a given, as evidenced by those who continue arguing with me about the facts. I have little if any ability to change minds, let alone behavior. I rest easy knowing that there are hundreds of other individuals out there attempting to point these facts out just like I do, and that people are, in fact, beginning to realize where we are as a species.

Many people continue to believe that somehow, we have the ability to slow down or stop the symptom predicaments of ecological overshoot we have set in motion. This is, in fact, denial of reality and optimism bias based on false beliefs and faulty assumptions, at least based on the current trajectory and events unfolding now. I think that some symptom predicaments may be mitigated, however, a large number of them are now well beyond any control we may have once had to slow down their severity. Transmissible disease, for instance, is on the increase due to other symptom predicaments such as biodiversity decline, extinction, and population growth in both human populations and the domestic animals we keep as pets and raise as livestock. Climate change also raises the chances of disease by increasing habitat range for disease-carrying insects and animals, among other reasons. 

Of course, one can always believe nonsense about climate change by failed pressure groups such as the WWF. I wrote about doomism a while back and the morons who write this garbage are nothing more than reductionists trying to sell you fairy tales on fantasy. What is hilarious is that they are trying to continue the same system that is killing us - no mention whatsoever is made of opting out of the very unsustainable system of civilization. Instead, they tell you to wash your clothes in cold water! Well, I already do that, but the climate isn't getting better. Install a heat pump or induction cooktop, they say. Hmmm, unfortunately, that will only increase overshoot, not solve anything. Again, climate change cannot be solved - it is a predicament with an outcome, not a problem with a solution. Art Berman points out the reality here.

The more likely outcomes (versus the fairy tales on fantasy for sale in above paragraph) are pointed out in an interview with George Tsakraklides and Lyle Lewis and an even more interesting take from Manuel Garcia, Jr., albeit one that I think is a tad bit exaggerated. Of course, I could be wrong. It was pointed out in the group I run that he didn't bring up the issue of nuclear waste and nuclear cooling pools that depend on external grid power, so there is another issue to consider.

So many people focus on electrical power, thinking that generating it using different fossil fuel-produced devices actually changes anything. It is evident that they simply haven't looked into the facts regarding it. The electrical grid is no different than any other human-built set of infrastructure supported by civilization - it's all unsustainable. It's all going away, permanently. Any other outcome really is just pure hopium. The Honest Sorcerer explains right here (I might add that this is a very important article to read) precisely why all the constant pleas for hope and the obsession for solutions remain nothing more than magical thinking. Steve Bull adds this article which contains the following quotes:

"We should not be (as we seem to be) doubling/tripling down on our standard problem-solving strategy of attempting greater complexity, especially via increased growth and technological innovation. I say this because this approach results in an exacerbation of our drawing down of finite resources and overloading of compensatory sinks that are contributing to an even more precipitous ‘collapse’ when it inevitably appears at our doorstep.

In addition, and perhaps more importantly, I would encourage everyone to be making one’s local community as self-sufficient/-reliant as possible."

Then, Steve provides this bit of insight into our thinking:

"Anyways, humans tend to be loathe to hold conflicting thoughts, almost as much as anxiety-provoking ones. The internal stress due to the cognitive dissonance created ‘motivates’ us to reject ideas that challenge our beliefs/preconceived notions. It doesn’t matter how ‘true’ or reflective of ‘objective’ reality the challenging beliefs/notions are. We deny/ignore them. We then tend to double down on our own beliefs to reduce the stress/anxiety that arises and protect them, sometimes quite vociferously (oftentimes simply internally), against the ‘offending’ opinion/idea/argument."

OK, so, now that this long introduction is complete, what exactly is radical acceptance? Check out this entry on Rob Mielcarski's site. Be sure to check out the massive comments section (almost 1,500!). Letting go of non-acceptance and the illusion of control means letting go of what isn't possible. I understand this rather well in that most people want the same things with regard to the predicaments we face as I did. But wanting those things and being able to actually accomplish them are two different things. Believing in or hoping for a particular outcome when that outcome isn't possible (bargaining) is a prescription for pain and suffering, as I discovered the hard way. Non-attachment to any particular outcome and simply accepting "what is" releases this pain and prevents further suffering. It's not as easy as it sounds, as I repeatedly went back and forth between the latter stages of grief over and over. But the better one gets at spotting when this happens, the easier it becomes to return to acceptance.

What I am most passionate about is retelling these stories in an effort to get others to see that Living Now is all about accepting "what is" and continuing to enjoy what is here today, knowing that many things we often take for granted are going away. Many people are stressing themselves out because they haven't reached this radical acceptance yet, and this leads to burnout.

I'm keeping this short today because it is a holiday (even though I wrote this at the beginning of the month, I'm thinking of folks who may be reading this right now) and certainly there are more joyful things to be doing right now. However, one can research this topic much further and I'll have more about radical acceptance in my next article in January. Until then, relax with some pictures from Sugarlands Overlook!