David Peat

Re-envisioning the Planet 161experts are suggesting that, in the ecological accounting book, it makesmore sense to burn wastepaper to generate heat for industry or a citycentral heating plant than to recycle it. And so one answer that was the“right” one is suddenly replaced by another. Is the first answer, recycling,then “wrong”? Did we make a mistake? Or will expert opinionchange yet again? Is this another disturbance we must put up with?ExpertsIn Chapter 5 we asked if someone, an art critic or gallery director,would provide us with a set of standards as to what is good and bad inart. No answer was forthcoming, other than our own obligation toinform ourselves and make our own judgments. But now considersomething much more serious. Areas of the planet are under environmentalthreat. We want to do the correct thing. But how are we toknow what we should do? The world has grown so very complex. Whois to advise us? Where can we find an impartial expert?There is a story that after Mahatma Gandhi was shot, the newprime minister, Pandit Motilal Nehru, asked an Indian sage what heshould do. “Right action,” came the reply. The same advice could wellbe given to our present leaders, society, and ourselves. In the face ofenvironmental dangers, decay of the inner cities, and international tensionswhat we need is right action. But, in a practical world, and facedwith a number of alternatives, just what is the right action? In a worldthat has become so incredibly complex how can we be sure of the implicationsof our daily decisions? What are we to do? These are ourcontemporary issues of uncertainty and tension or, as Mark Edwardsputs it, of disturbance.Even at a fairly primitive level our minds cannot tolerate uncertainty.When carrying out a task such as solving a problem in algebraor getting a photocopier to work our brains don’t like to be stumped orput in the position of “what should I do next?” Such issues create asensation of tension and discomfort. Experiments by psychologists indicatethat when we reach a point of uncertainty in carrying out a taskwe tend to patch over it unconsciously by inventing an arbitrary rule.