Final Thought: Fire away

The last week has been cool and wet, which might lead some to suspect that fire season is over.

That’s not the case, and the recent decision by the Prince George Fire Office to reverse its decision to allow Category 1 campfires is a prime example.

Yes, it’s been wet, and yes, we haven’t seen any sign of the West Kiskatinaw fire acting up in at least a couple weeks.

But that doesn’t mean that we don’t still need to be cautious when we are outdoors.

The forecast—to the extent that those can be trusted (see my earlier editorial on the topic from…I don’t know, just look for it. It’s there, somewhere. Have you checked behind the seat cushions in the couch?)—has us moving into another period of warm, dry weather.

And, while the recent rains have done a world of good, it doesn’t mean you can be tossing your cigarette butts into the woods, secure in the knowledge that you’re not contributing to forest fires. (I mean, let’s talk about that. You shouldn’t be tossing your cigarette butts anyway. Your car probably still has an ashtray. If not, you can get one on Amazon. It’s not just the fire thing, but that’s important. No, it’s the fact that you shouldn’t be tossing your junk out, no matter what it is. If you’re one of those people who likes to floss using dental pics, then throw your discarded plaque stick out the window, stop it. That’s disgusting. Sunflower seed shells? Sure. That bottle you peed into? No. Dump the pee, sure. Keep the trash.)

Of course, while the number of fires and the fire danger in this corner of the province is going down, the fire danger is going up elsewhere across BC.

As I write this, the big news is the evacuation of Osoyoos, where 700 properties were issued an evacuation order, and another 2000 are under an evacuation alert.

And there are still 352 active wildfires across the province, including the West Kiskatinaw Fire, which is currently only classified as being held. (The nearby Peavine Creek Wildfire, located further north and east, and which threatened Kelly Lake around the same time as we were dealing with the West Kiskatinaw evacuation, is considered under control.)

In addition to that fire, there is also a 4 ha fire out past the Trend Mountain Mine that, while it has not shown any activity in the last couple months is still on the map, though is also considered under control.

So far this year, there have been about ten fires in the Tumbler Ridge area, but only the Peavine Creek and West Kiskatinaw Fires grew to more than a few ha. Most of the fires are now declared out.

And here’s the thing. In five months, we’ll be in winter. And the temperature will hit … -20? Maybe -30. Maybe even -40.

And someone will inevitably laugh and say something to the effect of “so much for global warming,” or some such.

And I will smack them upside the head. Pow! Right in the kisser.

Okay, so I won’t, but I’ll think real hard about something cunning to say, but I won’t say that, either. And you know why?

Because you can’t cure stupid.

Or at least, not in that way.

According to David McRaney, author of How Minds Change, people hold on to their beliefs because it feels psychologically safe.

Indeed, he says, there’s not much difference, neurologically, between having deep seated political beliefs being attacked and being physically attacked. He tells of a study where people where put in an MRI and were challenged on their political beliefs. “They signaled their bodies to release adrenaline, which stiffened their muscles and caused blood to rush away from their nonessential organs. In essence, the participants reacted the same way they would if they’d been walking through a forest and came across a bear.” (Boom. Just tied half the paper together in one editorial. Just need to find a way to refer to “running a marathon”, and this will be the most cohesive editorial ever.)

But why, asks McRaney? “Why does the brain respond like that?”

The answer is because that’s the brain’s job. “Its job is to protect us – in both the physical and psychological sense. Once our beliefs and attitudes are adopted as part of the psychological self, the brain protects them as if they were parts of the physical body. It does that because our brains are wired to discriminate against out-groups and toward in-groups – more simply, against a “them” and toward an “us.” This isn’t actually so illogical. After all, humans survive by forming and maintaining groups, so much of our psychology is devoted to doing just that.”

As a result, we value our connections to our groups more than we value being factually correct. “As long as a group continues to satisfy our needs, we’d rather be technically wrong than risk our standing with our peers.”

Of course, allegiances shift, and sometimes we change groups, and suddenly, what we say shifts. Black is white. Left is right. What do you mean? I never said that, or if I did, I didn’t mean it, and if I meant it I was just plain stupid and hey, is that Tom Cruise over there?

We think we know why we think the way we do. But more often than not we come up with a belief, then create the rational for why we believe that afterwards.

In How Minds Change, McRaney tells us that by arguing with people, presenting facts and evidence, does nothing, because people “make their decisions on a visceral level first and then apply the logical reasoning process second.”

To go into his methodology for having impactful conversations—called street epistemology—would take up more space than I have here. Needless to say, it’s a fascinating book, and worth a read if you’re tired banging your head against other people’s opinions.

Of course, you won’t always get it right, but keep going. The process of change isn’t a sprint.

It’s a half marathon.