Can we train our brain to be greener?

Not green, our brain? In any case, it is a theory that caused a stir in 2019, when neuroscience doctor Sébastien Bohler published his book Why our brain drives us to destroy the planet and how to stop it, published by Robert Laffont. His theory? A powerful cognitive bias called the striatum prevents us from adopting eco-responsible habits and gestures, in other words from actively engaging in the preservation of the planet. But the striatum in question is not really a bias in the strict sense of the term: it is in fact an area of ​​the brain that exerts an influence on our motivation and our decision-making.

Striatum: what is it?

The striatum is also involved in the principle of the brain’s reward system, the very one that gives us the feeling of pleasure. This same striatum would prevent us from projecting ourselves in the long term and any change in our consumption would be interpreted by our brain as a deprivation, which would make the task of giving up our bad (but delicious) habits very difficult. A godsend for climatosceptics who therefore see in it the perfect argument for not (especially) changing anything in their way of life or even a good way to get rid of the feeling of guilt that one feels at the idea of ​​not not doing enough, one might think.

But the neuroscientist Sébastien Bohler says it himself: the brain can educate itself and our reward system can be activated by means other than individual pleasure and short-term satisfaction. For example by helping individuals or by getting involved in a meaningful project. In other words, to encourage us to make “the right decisions”, acting in one’s own interest or for the good of the community.

Can nudges help us?

Putting our striatum in tune with collective intelligence: it is somewhat on this principle that the nudges are based, “boosting” messages invented by the Americans Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (respectively an economist and philosopher) at the beginning of the 2000s. The idea? Transmit a playful, positive and inciting message. One of the most frequently cited examples is that of a fly visual stuck to the bottom of men’s toilet bowls at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The goal was to encourage these gentlemen to aim accurately by focusing on the fly, in order to spread as little splash as possible around the bowl. An initiative that paid off, since it would have reduced the cost of cleaning these toilets by 80%!

Coming from cognitive science, nudges were quickly adopted by politicians like David Cameron and Barack Obama, and are rapidly expanding in France. The public authorities do not hesitate to use this strategy in many fields such as food, safety or roads… as well as ecology, which has not escaped the trend. Trash cans with playful messages, eco-responsible messages on restaurant menus, environmental score… If they can help us become greener, nudges are however far from miraculous and are even accused of distracting us from “real actions” in favor of small gestures. “Their long-term efficacy has not been clearly demonstrated, and their use raises ethical questions”, points to a paper devoted to the subject published on the Inserm website.

Changing our habits would not be a punishment

Although they have largely been the subject of marketing appropriation, nudges remain no less interesting insofar as they are based on a positive modification of our habits, while preserving the dimension of pleasure and circumventing the sensation of frustration and deprivation. “This tool can be integrated into targeted action programs, so that instant behavioral changes are accompanied by in-depth attitude changes”, qualifies the Inserm article cited above. We know that it takes several days, even several months, for the brain to integrate a habit. More likely, therefore, that the process will succeed if you enjoy it.

The convinced ecologists who have taken the plunge will tell you that giving up a practice to adopt a new one is not necessarily a punishment. For some who have stopped eating meat or taking the plane, it would even be quite the opposite!

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