Abstract

The article presents a psychological perspective of the causes and consequences of the climate and environmental crisis. The author presents a picture of the modern world showing the achievements of human civilization and the associated environmental, psychological and sociological costs. Then, the deep causes of the current crisis are analyzed, among which the tendency to avoid suffering plays a special role. Finally, it leads to separation from current experience. The separation syndrome becomes the basic feature of modern civilization, whose function is to eliminate the experience of suffering. The author shows how avoiding suffering leads to separation from nature, which results in externalization of costs and ultimately leads to the climate and environmental crisis. In addition to the destructive potential, the crisis also provides an opportunity for deep reflection on the human condition and taking steps to change the unfavorable situation. The author, basing on the diagnosis, creates a vision of a new reality in which man will be able to cope with suffering without avoiding unfavorable circumstances. Consent to suffering as a natural component of life, the ability to contain it and to accept reality as it is, is crucial for resolving the current climate and environmental crisis.