Egocentrism

A consumerism which is indifferent to the damage it entails for the environment is the direct expression of egocentrism. Everyone thinks about their own advantages, comfort, new car, future residence and neglects the consequences that this can have in the longer term and on a wider scale.

To this egocentrism opposes the awareness that the individual should experience not only of nature, but also of others and future generations. That is, the ability to put oneself in the place of others and to feel what they feel: empathy.

It is often believed that empathy is a specific human characteristic. In reality, it is already observed in higher animals. It is therefore reasonable to assume that it is also part of the genetic programming of human psychism.

The laws of evolution suggest that the normal functioning of psychism should ensure a healthy balance between empathy and egocentrism: the survival of one group depends on the weighting that individuals exercise in their relations with others. Everyone must take into account the well-being and survival of others, but also their own survival. If each group only targets its own benefits, it loses efficiency and cohesion. If individuals fail to preserve their personal situation, they take excessive risks and also harm the group.

The same balance also applies to respect for the environment: as can be seen in some primitive societies, any depredation of the natural environment is perceived as an injury. The hunters apologize to the animal for having had to kill him. Or the tree they come down to build their cottage or consume its heart. Empathy therefore seems to contribute to respect for the environment, usefully moderating the inevitable conflict between the predations necessary to cover vital needs, and the preservation of nature.

Non-environmental behaviour can therefore be linked to a drift in the natural balance between empathy and self-esteem. It is one of the tasks of human ecogenetics to deepen the root causes of this imbalance and to clarify its effects on respect for the environment.