This sounds like essentially good news about the intrinsic capacity of the human race. But, here’s a half thought/question from me to follow up… 

If everyone can be moved towards either intrinsic or extrinsic values via exposure to either intrinsic or extrinsic messages and ideas (in their myriad of forms), the resulting balance of intrinsic to extrinsic values at a societal level will always boil down to the overall balance of intrinsic or extrinsic values in the messages that surround us. This is where I become less optimistic – as the most pervasive, consistent and optimised messages surrounding us today are from advertising; an ecosystem which perpetually surfaces the most profitable messages to the fore, and the most profitable messages, I believe, will favour extrinsic values, which in turn may cause the kind a feedback loop that changes a society.

So I guess my question is, does the intrinsic/extrinsic bias and scale of advertising overpower any tweaking of messaging that can be done at a grassroots level? And if so, what does that mean for the people who want to make things better?

I’ll leave it on that note, as you may have addressed this in ‘Think Of Me As Evil’, which I’ll have a look at this evening.

Thanks,
Adam

Does Common Cause have a timeline? Is the ambition to shift values before or after the opportunity to avoid tipping points in biodiversity and climate systems? I think many people are rightly skeptical of whether we can win a culture war within the next decade. If the ambition is to shift values so that our societies are in better shape to cope with catastrophic deleveraging, perhaps you should state that from the off…? And perhaps, also, you should avoid slamming campaigns aimed at provoking meaningful action now?