The Marshmallow Effect

I was reading Paul Krugman's column, Cassandras of Climate, in the New York Times this morning and it made me think of kids and marshmallows. Perhaps I need to explain. The point of the column is that climate scientists have become Cassandras, meaning that they have the ability to predict upcoming disaster, in this case accelerating global warming, but they are equally cursed with the inability to get anyone to believe them. Krugman points out that our models show that the decline is happening much faster than earlier predicted, and we still are not, as a nation, paying attention. At least not enough to agree to do something about it.

Why is this, he wonders. I wonder too. If you'll allow me to dredge up an old gem from my college days, I'll offer up my 2 cents worth. I was a psychology minor, which as life has gone on has proven surprisingly handy. One study that stuck with me was called the marshmallow experiment, a way of measuring the ability to defer gratification. In the study, 4-year-olds are given a marshmallow and told that if they wait 20 minutes, they'll receive another one. Some children waited and some didn't. They found that those who waited grew up to be better adjusted and dependable, and scored over 200 points higher on the SAT. What this study told me, too, was that those who were able to foresee consequences probably came out ahead.

So here we are, at a time when there is near consensus on the existence and dangers of future climate change, when we are nearing or have passed peak oil, when our homes and cars in recent history have grown to enormous proportions, and we are tooling along, too busy or distracted to really bother. We haven't spent the time to think ahead and defer gratification so we can alter the future of this planet. We are the kids who can't wait 20 minutes for the next marshmallow. Wendell Berry considers the most urgent question of our time: How much is enough? We haven't been able to answer this question yet. So why do we continue to consume and ignore warnings from our most respected scientists? In my opinion, just like the impatient 4-year-olds, (and to paraphrase Bill Clinton): Because we can.

So, I ask you, is this our model of behavior? Is this truly the best we can do? I know there were some kids in this experiment who waited the 20 minutes. Let's hope at least some of them have seen this huge hurdle we have to overcome and can help keep us focused on the future.

Fall Biking

We have been serious bikers for a number of years now, but have never been able to move beyond our immediate vicinity because we didn't have a bike rack to transport our bikes. This past week, however, we got a new rack attached to our car and took our first long-distance trail ride to Romeo. We got the bikes up on the rack (very easy!) and drove up a few miles to Rochester Hills to pick up the Paint Creek Trail. After many years of riding along the sidewalks of Troy and Rochester (and some portions of street) to get up to Rochester, this was a luxury. It also enabled us to go much farther along the trail. In fact, we left the Paint Creek trail and biked another 10 miles along the Macomb Orchard Trail until we arrived at Romeo, where we stopped at a nice Irish Pub for lunch. Then we biked back to Rochester, about 30 miles round trip. I must admit that 30 miles represents my limit right now - but it sure did feel good, and I had no soreness the next day, always a good sign.


Today we are heading up to East Lansing to have brunch with our son, and will be bringing the bikes, as we have located a Lansing River trail that winds through the beautiful river walk on campus and extends another 7 miles or so west. This ride should total 20 miles - more to my liking. Next up: Taking the Paint Creek Trail up to Lake Orion. This is a great way to see Michigan in the fall.

Rain Barrel Update

Since we are nearing the end of our rain barrel use for the year, I thought I'd poll the group to see how things went with our barrels this year. I sent out an e-mail asking for input and received a number of responses. I'll summarize.

First, it was a wet, cool summer, so for most of us our rain barrel use was somewhat down. A couple of us did drain our barrels once or twice over the summer, but rain did seem to come at regular intervals, so that situation was amended quickly.

One trend I noticed was that - no surprise - rain barrel use accelerates if you have potted plants. Even in a rainy season like the one we just had, pots pretty much need to be watered every day. Same for vegetables. They require more water than most flowering plants - and double that for tomatoes. Erica used rain barrel water as fertilizer for her tomatoes.

Some people did attach soaker hoses to their barrels. The Bradleys report that their barrels drained quickly with soakers attached.

A few people expanded beyond plants with their rain barrel water. The Carters used it to wash their car and to clean their driveway after some work. I also used the water to wash our car and rinse out things like my compost bucket. We had some work done here over the summer, and I was able to direct workers to rinse their materials in the rain barrel water.

Regarding maintenance, the Bradleys report that they will be fixing the stand for their 55-gallon barrel this year. It's leaning and needs to be enlarged. Martha found that an old fashioned rag mop was great for cleaning it out.

This is our 3rd or 4th year with our barrel (can't remember), and I will say that each year I come to rely on it more. When it is dry, I somehow have found it inconvenient to have to use a hose, and besides, the water from the hose smells funny, like chlorine. And then there's the whole thing about unwinding and winding up the hose after a small use - I just don't want to do it. So I think I have entered the 'other side' and have become a full rain barrel convert. I don't want to speak for the others, but I would guess they have too.