Study: Humor helped 90% of subjects feel more hopeful about about climate change
The precarious state of Earth's climate is getting harder to ignore. The seemingly constant influx of bad news has contributed to new forms anxiety and depression, and even coined new terms like “climate grief” and “eco-anxiety.”
These new sources of stress demand new remedies — so how do we deal?
To start: Laugh about it.
No really. Research suggests that the power of humor to combat climate-induced anxiety goes beyond just temporary distraction.
THE Donald
Works for me.
Science!
Good-natured comedy to enrich climate communication
(paywalled)
Abstract: This report explores the use of good-natured comedy to diversify the modes of comedy that can be used in climate communication beyond satire to others modes that are possibly more supportive of sustained climate action. Student’s self-assessment on a class project involving this type of comedy were collected through an on-line survey to generate data to explore their feelings of hope and their views of their own growth as climate communicators. Research findings suggest that student participation in creating good-natured comedy helps students positively process negative emotions regarding global warming, sustain hope, and grow as communicators of climate. These findings are from a practice-focussed study that shares primarily the self-reported results by students of a project offered over one semester. These findings show promise in the exploration of comedy for students to process emotions that allow joy, fun and hope to sustain their commitment to grow as climate communicators.
A Laughing matter? Confronting climate change through humor
(paywalled)
Abstract: Why fuse climate change and comedy? Anthropogenic climate change is one of the most prominent and existential challenges of the 21st century. Consequently, public discourses typically consider climate change as ‘threat’ with doom, gloom and psychological duress sprinkled throughout. Humor and comedy have been increasingly mobilized as culturally-resonant vehicles for effective climate change communications, as everyday forms of resistance and tools of social movements, while providing some levity along the way. Yet, critical assessments see comedy as a distraction from the serious nature of climate change problems. Primarily through conceptions of biopower and through approaches to affect, this paper interrogates how comedy and humor potentially exert power to impact new ways of thinking/acting about anthropogenic climate change. More widely, this paper critically examines ways in which experiential, emotional, and aesthetic learning can inform scientific ways of knowing. These dynamics are explored through the ‘Stand Up for Climate Change’ initiative through the ‘Inside the Greenhouse’ project where efficacy of humor in climate change communication is considered while individuals and groups also build tools of communication through humor. This is a multi-modal experiment in sketch comedy, stand-up and improvisation involving undergraduate students, culminating in a set of performances. In addition, the project ran an international video competition. Through this case, we find that progress is made along key themes of awareness, efficacy, feeling/emotion/affect, engagement/problem solving, learning and new knowledge formation, though many challenges still remain. While science is often privileged as the dominant way by which climate change is articulated, comedic approaches can influence how meanings course through the veins of our social body, shaping our coping and survival practices in contemporary life. However, this is not a given. By tapping into these complementary ways of knowing, ongoing challenges remain regarding how communicators can more effectively develop strategies to ‘meet people where they are’ through creative climate communications.
Comedy!
Climate jokes 1/5
David Tennant
The first conclusive proof of global warming just happened. Recently on a cold, crisp day, a farmer in Iowa went out to check his crops and found 150 acres of popped popcorn.
We produce 48% more carbon emissions than we did in the 1970s but that figure could be halved if we just divide it by two.
Leave ‘em laughing instead of crying: Climate humor can break down barriers and find common ground
Trevor Noah, host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” observed:
“You know the crazy people you see in the streets shouting that the world is ending? Turns out, they’re all actually climate scientists.”
On ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Kimmel commented:
“There’s always a silver lining. One planet’s calamity is another planet’s shop-portunity.”
He then cut to a going-out-of-business advertisement for Planet Earth that read:
“Everything must go! 50% of all nocturnal animals, insects, reptiles and amphibians … priced to sell before we live in hell. But you must act fast because planet Earth is over soon. And when it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Jimmy Kimmel Declares That Earth Is Going Out of Business
Ever the absurdist, he cued up a wacky going-out-of-business ad for all of Earth. “One planet’s calamity is another planet’s shop-portunity,” Kimmel said.
Then the ad’s caffeinated announcer took over. “Attention, galaxy: Planet Earth is going out of business!” he said. “We’ve lost our minds, and everything — must — go! Insane deals on everything on Earth.”
Back to research.
How watching Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert can influence people's views on climate change
Ds and Rs both.
Oh, I tell you putting this Diary together was fun.