Evolving to Address Global Climate Change and the Scale of Public Interactions

Abstract

Global climate change is complex to address. It will require people to interact publicly as well as set policy, as a crucial part of addressing it. To date, skills for effective public interaction—where such interactions even exist—do not measure up to the demands of such global complexity. Hierarchical complexity is used to analyze common forms of public talk and interaction. Its premises are applied to approaches to conduct public discourse, including postformal approaches. The Scale of Public Interactions is introduced and indicates that Metasystematic stage approaches to climate change hold the most potential for addressing it.

KEYWORDS:

• Hierarchical complexity
• public discourse
• Scale of Public Interactions

Notes

1. For further discussion and examples see Inglis (2007).

2. Research by Ross (2007) suggests that such processes, when well structured, can increase participants' stages of reasoning about complex issues.