Andrew Shatte wants to turn the fight against global warming into a war.
The former Penn assistant Psychology professor kicked off his 50-college tour last night in Meyerson Hall at an event sponsored by the Penn Environmental Group. The talk, "Hardwired for Extinction: Why We're Headed for the Brink and What We Can Do About It," focused on the evolutionary psychology of global warming.
During his time at Penn, Shatte's Psychology 101 classes drew 800 students per year. He won the Student Committee Award for Best Professor in the Social Sciences in 2003 and the Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2006. Shatte left Penn in 2006 to move closer to his wife's family after the birth of his daughter, he said.
Former students still speak of Shatte in awe.
"Every single one of his talks is brilliant," said College junior Shari Abel-Rehman, a former student. "He has a way to grab your attention regardless of what the topic is."
Shatte's talk last night focused on evolutionarily hardwired tendencies that he believes will drive humans to extinction, which he describes as "waves in a perfect storm." He believes these tendencies are based in our evolutionary drive to mate and consume resources and our inability to act against abstract threats like global warming.
"We're walking in our sleep," Shatte said. "We're like zombies out there, walking towards the brink because we can't see what's coming."
Shatte advocated "guilt, shame and embarrassment" to fight global warming. He suggested using public energy meters, rationing and widespread media coverage to create a culture in which conspicuous consumption is unacceptable. He also proposed using computer-generated images to show the effects of climate change on the landscape and a "carbon-emissions clock" to create a fear of global warming.
"We need to be reminded every single day" of the effects of climate change, he said.
College senior Georgios Drossinos, also a former student, said he was skeptical about the possibility of real change. "Some of the things that he says we should do to create that fear may be hard to implement nationwide," he said.
Many audience members, however, were impressed by Shatte's assessment of the situation.
"I think the way he presented it . just because that's how it psychologically works, and that's how people are going to start to change their behaviors, is brilliant," Abel-Rehman said.
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