Deck 25: Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability

Question 1

Which of the following is based on a belief that the less government interference the better?

A)no-problem school
B)free-market school
C)spaceship-earth school
D)stewardship
E)ecocentrism

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Part of the problem in the human degradation of the life-support system of the earth is our ignorance of how the earth works.To change our behavior we need to know

A)Natural capital matters because it supports the earth's life and our economics.
B)Our ecological footprints are immense and expanding rapidly
C)Ecological and climate change tipping points are irreversible and should never be crossed.
D)All of these.
E)None of these.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following would not be one of the components of an environmental revolution?

A)deemphasis of population controls
B)biodiversity protection
C)energy transformation
D)emphasis on sufficiency
E)commitment to eco-efficiency

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is part of the environmental wisdom worldview?

A)Success is managing the earth's systems for ourselves.
B)Success is managing the earth by dominating, changing, and managing the earth for everyone.
C)Success is economic growth, development, better management, and technology.
D)Success is learning how nature sustains itself and integrating this into our actions.
E)Success is understanding nature to dominate, change, and manage it.

Question 5

Which of the following worldviews would include the concept that when we use the earth's natural capital we are borrowing from the earth and from future generations?

A)planetary management
B)stewardship
C)free-market school
D)spaceship-earth
E)environmental wisdom

Question 6

The Biosphere 2 experiment was a complete success.

Question 7

Which of the following is not a human-centered worldview?

A)stewardship
B)planetary Management
C)free-market school
D)spaceship-earth
E)environmental wisdom

Question 8

Which of the following believes we can solve any environmental, population, or resource problem with more economic growth and development, better management, and better technology?

A)no-problem school
B)human centered
C)environmental wisdom
D)free-market
E)planetary management

Question 9

Which of the following understands the earth to be a complex machine that we can understand, dominate, change, and manage for everyone's good without overloading natural systems?

A)spaceship-earth
B)planetary management
C)deep ecology
D)biocentric
E)stewardship

Question 10

Which of the following ideas would not be part of the earth-oriented worldview?

A)Preserving the earth's biodiversity now and in the future
B)Humans are not in charge of the world
C)We have an ethical responsibility to be caring, responsible managers of the earth.
D)Human economies and systems are part of earth's life-support systems
E)Preventing depletion of natural capital promotes environmental sustainability

Question 11

What was the major point learned in the 1991 Biosphere 2 experiment?

A)How to recycle waste and wastewater.
B)How to grow a rainforest in an enclosed area.
C)CO2 recycling is really difficult.
D)Humans cannot engineer life-supporting systems as well as nature.
E)Extinction is inevitable.

Question 12

According to social science research, in order for a major social change to occur, what percentage of the people need to be convinced that change must take place?

A)100%
B)50%
C)33%
D)20%
E)5-10%

Question 13

Voluntary simplicity, a growing movement in the developed world, would include all of the following except?

A)learning to live with much less
B)working less to spend more time with family
C)using products with smaller environmental impact
D)adding more possessions that last longer
E)none of these

Question 14

Some critics think one of the following worldviews will not work because it is based on increased degradation and depletion of the earth's capital, and it focuses on short-term economic benefits with little regard for long term harmful consequences.Which worldview does this best represent?

A)no-problem school
B)human centered
C)environmental wisdom
D)free-market
E)planetary management

Question 15

Which of the following is not a part of the Planetary Management worldview?

A)We are the most important and dominant species.
B)Resources are limited and should not be wasted.
C)The earth should be managed for our own benefit.
D)The potential for economic growth is essentially unlimited.
E)Success depends on managing life-support systems to our benefit.

Question 16

Which of the following would not be part of the environmental wisdom worldview?

A)Human ingenuity and technology will not allow us to run out of resources.
B)We should encourage earth-sustaining forms of economic growth.
C)Resources are limited and should not be wasted.
D)Nature exists for all species and we are totally dependent on nature.
E)Our success depends on learning how nature sustains itself.

Question 17

Which of the following is synonymous with an anthropocentric worldview?

A)self-centered
B)life-centered
C)human-centered
D)ecosystem-centered
E)earth-centered

Question 18

The no-problem school worldview is part of the environmental wisdom worldview.

Question 19

Which of the following is not one of the human activities having the greatest harmful impact on the environment?

A)food production
B)transportation
C)home energy use
D)recycling
E)overall resource use

Question 20

Which of the following is not one of the ethical guidelines for living more sustainably?

A)Do not degrade or deplete the earth's natural capital.
B)Help maintain the earth's capacity for self-repair.
C)Do not waste matter and energy resources.
D)Avoid climate-changing activities.
E)Encourage more technological answers to problems.

Question 21

Having a sense of connectedness with nature is not all that important to dealing with environmental problems.

Question 22

Research by psychologists have found that a growing number of people want more of a sense of community as opposed to more 'stuff.'

Question 23

An earth-centered worldview is more practical than a human-centered worldview.

Question 24

Most people with a life-centered worldview believe we have an ethical responsibility to avoid causing the premature extinction of species.

Question 25

The environmental wisdom worldview believes we should talk about saving the earth because the earth is in need of saving.

Question 26

Humans now have more technology and power to degrade nature than ever before. At the same time we have very little contact with, or understanding of, nature.

Question 27

Technological fixes, such as being more efficient in resource use, have been able to keep up with expansion of global resource use.

Question 28

A formal environmental education is important, but it is not enough to solve the problems with the degradation of nature.

Question 29

Those who adhere to the free-market worldview suggest that all public property resources should be converted to private property resources.

Question 30

Evidence indicates that human driven degradation of nature will likely threaten human civilization, and one-half of all the world's species in this century.

Question 31

An ____________________ is how people think the world works and what they believe their role in it should be.

Question 32

Once an environmental or climate change tipping point is reached, there is no going back and neither money nor technology will save us from the consequences.

Question 33

In order to make change in the world around environmental issues, we need to convince at least one-half of the world's people.

Question 34

History indicates we can change faster than may be thought, once we have courage to leave behind ideas and practices that no longer work.

Question 35

People with earth-centered worldviews believe that humans are in charge of the world and that the earth's life support systems are subservient to human demands.

Question 36

There is widespread evidence that humans are increasingly degrading our own life-support system.

Question 37

In the planetary management worldview, the potential for economic growth is ____________________.

Question 38

The Biosphere 2 experiment failed to maintain ____________________ for eight people for two years.

Question 39

The spaceship-earth worldview understands the earth as a complex machine that we can dominate, change, and manage.

Question 40

The stewardship worldview holds that as we use natural capital we are ______________ from future generations.

Question 41

Some analysts suggest that for some people acquiring more and more goods should be treated as an ____________________.

Question 42

What does "a sense of place" mean? Do you have such a place, and if so, where is it? Do you think a sense of place is important? What would you do to protect that place?

Question 43

Some affluent people in more-developed countries have adopted a lifestyle of ____________________, in which they seek to live with much less than they are accustomed to having.

Question 44

The ____________________ worldview is devoted to preserving the earth's biodiversity and life systems for now and in the future.

Question 45

Consider the section "How Much Is Enough?" Do you agree that many of the things we now feel are necessities are actually luxuries? Could you do without them, or are they now part of your necessities? How does your worldview affect your sense of what is necessary?

Question 46

Our ecological footprints ____________________ the earth's estimated ecological capacity.

Question 47

According to the environmental wisdom worldview, "all efforts to promote sustainability are local and personal." How do you understand this concept? Do you think all sustainability efforts are local and personal, or national/global and impersonal. Explain.

Question 48

Research suggests we need only convince ____________________% of the people in a country or in the world to bring about major social change.

Question 49

The concept that we have an ethical responsibility to be caring and responsible managers of the earth is associated with the ____________________ worldview.

Question 50

Some analysts suggest the need to continually acquire "more and more goods" should be treated as an addiction. Do you agree? What difference would it make if we did treat it as an addiction? Is this an addiction that we would be willing to work on?

Question 51

The Biosphere 2 experiment could be seen as a failure, or it could be seen as an affirmation that nature is exceedingly complex and should not be degraded or destroyed.Which way do you view Biosphere 2? Explain your answer.

Question 52

Earth-focused philosophers say that to be rooted, each of us needs to find a(n) ____________________.

Question 53

Examine the various worldviews as outlined in this section of the chapter.Which of these worldviews encompasses your understanding of how the world works? Is being aware of your worldview a helpful insight? Why or why not.

Question 54

Environmental leaders say it is time for an ____________________ to change the way we treat the earth.

Question 55

The ____________________ worldview suggests humans are separate from the rest of nature and can manage nature to meet our increasing needs and wants.