Don't Look Up: Hubris, Self Involvement and a Lack of Faith in Humanity
The moral case for checking your own hubris and thinking about your own selfishness.
Author’s Note: This should not be taken as an opinion on the issue of climate change that the film is putting forward. Only a look at the philosophy underneath the film.
People like to believe in their own importance.
They like to believe that when it comes down to it, they will step up and be able to rally people to their cause. That the importance of the moment will be clear to everyone. No one will disagree or take issue with what's being told of them. Of course, anyone who's spent any time with another person understands how hard this process is. Having any conversation with anyone brings up disagreements, whether it's small along the margins or fundamental disagreements about the nature of the problem. If the situation is important enough, some people will view it as necessary to force the issue.
Such an action will obviously create more division. Since most people don't like to feel as though they're being forced into anything they don't want to do. A natural opposition arises that only hinders people from whatever they're trying to achieve. There may even be people who want to stop whatever actions are being taken who band together for such a purpose. Seeing this in action is enough to make people doubt the value of people's humanity. In their ability to care about their fellow humans as a way to make the world a better place.
This too is a natural reaction. But in reality, when things really come down to it, everyone is willing to come together. We saw this in the initial response to this two year journey we've all been on. People did in fact find a way to come together and rally towards a common cause. One that was at least believed to be something potentially catastrophic. The problem came about when disagreements arose. Rather than putting in the time and effort to consider whether things should continue as they are, disagreements were shut down and an insistence on continuing on the path we were on. Regardless of whether or not such actions were warranted. Panic set in and people were unable to admit their own mistakes.
Don't Look Up in many ways is an examination of this hubris and lack of faith in people's ability to consider alternatives. However, the example of this is not where you might think it is. The film would have you believe that the hubris and self importance is in the people who oppose or question Dr Randall Mindy and Kate Dibiasky, as played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence respectively. However, in reality the hubris and self involvement is in the filmmakers themselves. In their belief in the rightness of their own position and the solution they have in mind.
Most importantly is the fact that the film reveals their complete lack of faith in humanity. That the things they believe would stop people from coming together would in fact do so. Especially given the fact that all of them have seen evidence with their own eyes of just how wrong this perspective actually is. People can come together when it is warranted. It's possible to rally people to an important cause. Where their lack of faith in humanity comes from is in their inability to shift their own perspective and consider other options.
Despite this, it's still of value to check out the film and understand this reality for yourself.
Check it out on Netflix as soon as you can.
i did actually see this one! my take: beliefs become our reference points for understanding ourselves, the world, our place in it, and they're not relinquished lightly. people often hold to beliefs most resolutely in times of danger. the theory people use to explain the world to themselves becomes MOST important in the moment they feel most vulnerable or threatened.
so, i think some of what the movie portrays could be valid. true, people can and have come together to accomplish great things and solve huge problems, especially in times of crisis. they've also clashed over seemingly pointless nonsense. and lately we've had political inertia as a result of our collective inability to deal with each other in good faith. our complete lack of interest in compromise. our selfishness. i hope the movie is wrong. more than anything, i think it was meant to be a warning to us to take a good look in the mirror and get our act together.
the inability by many to even try to see things from a different perspective is frustrating, digging in their heels while one's just trying to compare viewpoints. perhaps it's an ugly spin off of PC....?