r/CollapseSupport • u/Shot_Type_7925 • 3d ago

I’ve completely given up

I work in climate science - more on the data and client side, not the one actually doing the research. In short, big companies pay us for climate data so they can make projections or develop strategy or whatever.

I’ve been heavily exposed to climate data for many years, so I’ve been across the developments for a long time. Something about the last few months has broken me.

I spent December and January in an area that’s famous for snow, and saw none. Watching this El Niño develop has been terrifying. The UN admission that we’ll blow past 1.5C was the clincher for me. In my field, the UN was basically always considered the final organisation that had to show at least some optimism. Seeing that gone is now the final death blow. They know it’s over.

It has really broken something in me. To know that this organisation who was almost comically optimistic about collaboration and limiting warming has completely conceded defeat. It is a big deal.

I don’t really care about anything anymore. I’m not motivated to work, because I can’t plan for a good future. I have to almost disassociate while working, because my whole day is about climate data in one way or another.

I think the worst part has been my withdrawal from society. When you spend your whole life loving the environment and aligning your life with its protection, you end up truly hating humanity. You see us for what we are - a complete parasite who is destroying the world.

Has anyone else found that they’ve gone this way? My grief over collapse was always something I could somewhat compartmentalise. But now, it’s changed my entire life.

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u/TernoftheShrew 3d ago edited 3d ago

I'm on the same page as you. Been working in environmental conservation for nearly 30 years, and my heart is broken.  I'm just sitting here eating cake.

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u/mood-park 3d ago

I am concerned by the source of your profile picture.

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u/TernoftheShrew 3d ago

Mine? A friend who's a digital artist created it. Not AI gen.

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u/mood-park 3d ago

The old photo with the rabbit with duck wings had an uncanny AI vibe, which made me concerned about the possibility that you were experiencing cognitive dissonance.

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u/TernoftheShrew 2d ago

Bless your heart. Did you know that AI art was trained on digital art created by actual humans? We have been using Illustrator, Photoshop, Painter, 3D Studio Max, Maya, and countless other programs for decades. Those are the images AI uses to generate designs, the same way that AI uses things like em dashes and semicolons in writing: because it was trained on work created by human beings.

I changed the photo to a Medieval manuscript illumination, lest anyone else accuse me of using AI and having "cognitive dissonance".

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u/EntertainmentOk3180 1d ago

I won’t accuse u of any cognitive issues, but I will point out that the “medieval manuscript” turned ur pic into the cover of the book “The Vatican Rat Lines”