103
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Cays, An Environmental Life Cycle Approach to Design,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63802-3_6
Chapter 6
Addressing Resistance to a Fact-Based
Approach
Abstract Facts are critical to making informed decisions but are often not enough
to convince people to change their priorities. Scientific approaches like LCA presents obstacles and opportunities to non-specialists, including designers.
The self-preservation instinct is typically hardwired into each individual. This
genetic predisposition to avoid certain risks that loom large in our consciousness
both safeguards the continuation of our species and blinds us to less visible and possibly much greater threats. Media outlets play to the natural human reliance on
heuristics and implicit biases. The confusion a “post-fact” world creates serves to
maintain the status quo by perpetually calling into question well-established facts
and stalling fruitful debate. Spectacular headlines provoke irrational fears that distract from other, more statistically likely threats.
Rhetorical techniques frame facts. Denialism is intended to create paralysis.
More information is not necessarily better, if it is derived from sources that only
confirm sociopolitical biases rather than challenging them. It is important to
acknowledge contextual headwinds operating at the largest scales in society before
blithely applying a targeted set of analytical techniques to measure environmental
impacts in a design project.
Before presenting the “how-to” of integrating a data-driven approach to sustainable design decisions, however, it is important to recognize that facts in one domain
are not always enough to persuade a decision-maker. Attributional LCA may
improve process-based decisions without requiring wholesale recanting of firmly
held world views. Non-geometric data serves designers as a foundation to a factbased and measured approach.
6.1 Fast and Slow Decisions
Every day, we decide on whether to buy this or that, to drive faster or slower, or to
vote for one candidate over another. We make certain decisions instantaneously, like
running from a snarling dog, stepping out of the way of a speeding bus, or picking
a favorite toothpaste from a grocery shelf full of competing products. These decisions leverage what psychologists refer to System 1 thinking. We reach them quickly
and automatically, and they require little effort or concentration. Other decisions or
activities require careful evaluation and calculation. Deliberating over which
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Cays, An Environmental Life Cycle Approach to Design,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63802-3_6
Chapter 6
Addressing Resistance to a Fact-Based
Approach
Abstract Facts are critical to making informed decisions but are often not enough
to convince people to change their priorities. Scientific approaches like LCA presents obstacles and opportunities to non-specialists, including designers.
The self-preservation instinct is typically hardwired into each individual. This
genetic predisposition to avoid certain risks that loom large in our consciousness
both safeguards the continuation of our species and blinds us to less visible and possibly much greater threats. Media outlets play to the natural human reliance on
heuristics and implicit biases. The confusion a “post-fact” world creates serves to
maintain the status quo by perpetually calling into question well-established facts
and stalling fruitful debate. Spectacular headlines provoke irrational fears that distract from other, more statistically likely threats.
Rhetorical techniques frame facts. Denialism is intended to create paralysis.
More information is not necessarily better, if it is derived from sources that only
confirm sociopolitical biases rather than challenging them. It is important to
acknowledge contextual headwinds operating at the largest scales in society before
blithely applying a targeted set of analytical techniques to measure environmental
impacts in a design project.
Before presenting the “how-to” of integrating a data-driven approach to sustainable design decisions, however, it is important to recognize that facts in one domain
are not always enough to persuade a decision-maker. Attributional LCA may
improve process-based decisions without requiring wholesale recanting of firmly
held world views. Non-geometric data serves designers as a foundation to a factbased and measured approach.
6.1 Fast and Slow Decisions
Every day, we decide on whether to buy this or that, to drive faster or slower, or to
vote for one candidate over another. We make certain decisions instantaneously, like
running from a snarling dog, stepping out of the way of a speeding bus, or picking
a favorite toothpaste from a grocery shelf full of competing products. These decisions leverage what psychologists refer to System 1 thinking. We reach them quickly
and automatically, and they require little effort or concentration. Other decisions or
activities require careful evaluation and calculation. Deliberating over which