As a climate scientist, I always wonder if we have a narrow view of climate change as the most important problem facing humanity. Whatever happens, the climate is now a relentless generator of information and we are only happy to feed off it. Climate change seems to be at the forefront, except during election periods. We then lament that climate change does not seem to be a matter of life and death for politicians running for office.

We saw this happen during the recent US elections. Today, after Donald Trump’s great victory, end-of-the-world scenarios continue to be drawn up about the consequences of his victory on climate issues. Such a persistent sense of crisis comes from tunnel vision.

How does this phenomenon manifest itself in general? As the United States comes to terms with its historic election results, citizens on both sides are stunned to find that the other side fails to see its candidate’s obvious problems. What most of us don’t see is that they all went down the depths of a rabbit hole with their eyes wide shut. Seemingly obvious and sensible choices become immutable preferences. Before we know it, we find ourselves in a dark tunnel where our most important choice has become the all-powerful filter for letting in or excluding other people and other points of view.

Secret passwords

Once we have chosen an essential quality in a person, we only let in those who meet that one criterion and eliminate those who do not respect this sacrosanct value. For example, an individual or group may make the harmless choice to associate only with polite people. There may be other perfectly safe and sane people whose only problem is that they are sometimes abrupt or irritable. But abruptness and irritability are likely to be considered unacceptable in the polite social group. Although an angry or tense personality may simply be an idiosyncrasy without bigotry or hatred, such a person will not rise above the narrow view of politeness. Yet we all know people who can happily convey all manner of intolerance and hatred while remaining consistently gentle or falsely polite. They could cross the barrier of “politeness”.

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If you extend this concept to all the choices we make, from friendships to running for office, you’ll realize that this is what we saw play out in the US election.

The rich man’s choice

It is now well known that Elon Muskone of the richest men in the world, has put all his immense resources behind Donald Trump. Tens of millions of people found his choice shocking and incomprehensible, especially since Musk is considered one of the smartest men in the world. But Musk made it clear that he had no doubt that only Trump could save the United States from annihilation.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, with United States President-elect Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, United States, October 5, 2024. Elon Musk, the most the world’s wealthiest, is positioned to hold sweeping powers in the second Trump administration as a deputy tasked with restructuring government operations using his aggressive approach to business. | Photo credit: JIM WATSON

It wasn’t a personal choice. Musk put all his resources into convincing as many people as possible; even offering million-dollar rewards to those who pledged to support his candidate. Its social media platform Musk and Trump have also jointly made it the testing ground for “free speech.” “.

An unshakeable faith

Surveys and analyzes are regularly undertaken to understand how people can ignore even the most shocking behavior of their chosen leaders. College education, religion, gender, color, job security, anti-immigrant sentiments, etc. are all involved in people’s choices, but we still don’t know exactly what this unshakable criterion is; if applicable, which they can use to filter out anything the other party finds abominable. This is true on both sides. It is obvious to each side that the other’s candidate is inhumane, anti-God, unpatriotic and worse.

Jonathan Haidt in his book The right mind argues that people intuitively choose this sacrosanct value and that they primarily seek out groups that choose the same value. Such confirmation bias is deadly because we prefer to set aside facts if they contradict our beliefs, and many real-world examples and game theory experiments show that we are all very susceptible to confirmation bias. What’s more deadly, however, is that social media can now feed our built-in confirmation bias simply by tracking our activities. Artificial Intelligence (AI) now fuels our belief systems, albeit algorithmically and not teleologically.

No light at the end of the tunnel

How can so many millions of people on either side of the divide be so right in their own world and so completely wrong in the other world? It is now clear that stubborn adherence to one’s own sacrosanct choice leads to completely eliminating the opinions of others.

We are all used to taking politicians with a pinch of salt. So what is this new phenomenon where the world seems so divided at all levels? Are social media and information overload making us less tolerant of even the smallest differences and making them seem insurmountable? Or do these aspects simply amplify an intrinsic tendency that we have always had within us?

When we look at the impact of disturbances such as climate events on various species, including ourselves, we are trying to diagnose whether new genes are showing up or whether the frequency of an existing genetic trait has been changed. For example, evidence suggests that frequent disruptions in the past increased the resistance and resilience of our ancestors to cope with environmental changes. We have the capacity to respond adaptively to persistent environmental disturbances, but, of course, some of us will perish along the way.

It is the genetic and cultural evolution of which we are so uniquely capable that has made the information age and our response to it possible. Creations like AI seem to inherit our temptations. Keywords are tracked by search engines to feed us more of what we already consume. Before we know it, we could find ourselves in an echo chamber without even choosing to be there. AI amplifies our intrinsic biases and gives us tunnel vision that quickly becomes a comfort zone.

Do we make politicians, or do they make us? We all feel entitled to say that politics has become tainted and that politicians will do anything to gain power. Sadly, we choose the leaders. Some politicians may even seek help from AI and external agencies to spread fake news about opponents winning elections. But what is even more subversive is that the electorate is now willing to ignore such dangerous activities of its own candidate, while being shocked by everything the opposing candidate does.

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Even after a government is elected, the opposition’s main motivation may be to prevent the government from functioning properly. Obstructing or overthrowing the government can become an obsession. And in this game, it is hardly clear whether the good of the community, the state or the country is taken into account.

It is clear that citizens’ confidence in democracy is now a victim of the phenomenon of tunnel vision. Democracy cannot be perfect since it is a human system, and we are not perfect. However, the institutions meant to safeguard the legitimacy of the democratic process and guarantee secure and fair elections have been undermined. The legitimacy of these institutions has been upended, which appears to be leading to a chasm from which it may prove too deep to escape.

Climate change and tunnel vision

Does the discourse on climate change also suffer from tunnel vision? It is hardly possible to avoid news of deadly climatic events such as the floods which have submerged parts of Spain with mud, with the death toll likely to exceed 300. Climate change scientists in the media constantly remind us that they told us so and it will only get worse. Climate forecasters, meanwhile, continue to question the effectiveness of their predictions and why even the best forecasts have failed to save lives. They also highlight the need to adapt and build resilience. While these are wise words, we must always remember that when a year’s worth of rain falls in a matter of hours, adaptation and resilience will need to be highly informed and at hyperlocal scales. We do not yet provide this information at the required spatial and temporal scales.

So where is the tunnel vision here? On the one hand, as climate fighters, we don’t offer many solutions to decarbonize the system, which prevents governments and citizens from diverting their attention from economic growth and wallet problems. We need to be aware of everything that governments, politicians and citizens face every day that force them to ignore or downplay the issue of climate change that we consider sacrosanct. Offering tunnel vision always begets further tunnel vision, as Trump’s second coming to the United States clearly demonstrates.

Raghu Murtugudde is a professor at IIT Bombay and professor emeritus at the University of Maryland.