EcoTypes

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EcoTypes Themes

Place | Knowledge | Action | Going Deeper

The three EcoTypes themes of Place, Knowledge, and Action are statistical summaries of all twelve EcoTypes axes. Each theme expresses a key difference found among thousands of responses to the EcoTypes survey. The most general ways our EcoTypes—our environmental worldviews—differ are thus related to Place, Knowledge, and Action.

These differences are expressed via a key question underlying each theme, and theme attractors summarizing our divergent answers to this question. Theme poles are called attractors for theoretical reasons, more fully developed in the EcoTypes book: think of each as an attractive, common, yet only partial solution to the complex question posed by each theme.

Three EcoTypes themes and their contributing axes, including four for each.

The statistical procedure used to determine EcoTypes themes is factor analysis. Though factor analysis has been wrongly applied in past, it remains a powerful technique to group similar variables (EcoTypes axes) based on their greatest common differences (statistical variance). Factor analysis thus suggests both key differences (themes) among the twelve EcoTypes axes, and their similarities (the axes corresponding to each theme). Theme attractors are the statistical tails of each factor, identified by their contributing axis poles.

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Confused about theme attractors?

Many people are confused by the two opposing attractors for each theme. For more context, see the Survey Report FAQ ("Why do axes have poles, and themes have attractors?")

In short, though there are twelve different EcoTypes axes, there appear to be only three major differences in our environmental worldviews, expressed via EcoTypes themes and theme attractors.

EcoTypes theme attractors, summarizing differences in thousands of completed surveys.

By completing the EcoTypes survey, you will receive scores for each theme. As with axis scores, your theme scores are between -1 (left attractor) and +1 (right attractor). Also similar to axes, you may score near one or the other theme attractor, or somewhere in between. Your theme scores are more robust than your axis scores, as they are based on eight vs. two environmental statements. Your report will, however, offer you an estimate of how well your theme score fits you, based on the similarity of contributing axis scores.

See below for more details on each of the three themes of Place, Knowledge, and Action, including their key questions, attractors, and a brief narrative that summarizes each attractor via linked axes and portions of EcoTypes survey statements.

Place

What world do we want, and what is the place of nonhumans and humans?

Nonhuman Attractor

Human Attractor

To make this world a good place, nonhumans—animals, plants, and their habitats—must come first because they were here first. Ecosystems were stable and in balance before humans arrived. Even today, nature knows best; people should let natural processes flourish. Indeed, the most beautiful things on Earth are found in wild nature. There can be a place in this world for humans, but only if it does not interfere with nonhumans.

To make this world a good place, human well-being must come first, because we are people. Ecosystems have long been dynamic, even before humans arrived. Today, it is naive to just let nature take its course, as many landscapes have already been affected by humans. Indeed, people can craft beautiful things that look better than nature alone. There can be a place in this world for nonhumans, but only if it does not interfere with humans.

Knowledge

What old and new ways of knowing will help us build the world we want?

Old Attractor

New Attractor

The best knowledge to help us make this world a good place comes from old traditions, because they have stood the test of time. Many environmental problems arose from our headlong rush into the future. We have neglected the important spiritual dimensions of these problems, along with alternative sources of facts from wisdom traditions. Moving forward, science and technology may just create more problems than solutions; let us follow older ways of knowing.

The best knowledge to help us make this world a good place comes from new discoveries, because they offer the latest insights. We need not look to the past for solutions, given the potential for future ingenuity. Rather than seek spiritual dimensions of environmental problems, science offers a better way to learn the truth about these issues than alternative claims. Moving forward, this complex world calls for technological solutions and new ways of knowing.

Action

What action at small and big scales will help us build the world we want?

Small Attractor

Big Attractor

The most effective action to help us make this world a good place is at small scales. We all contribute to society, so each one of us is partly responsible for environmental problems. In fact, individual actions like recycling can accomplish a lot if we all do them. At the level of our economy, free markets solve environmental problems better than government regulations. Ultimately, small changes will do more than attempting radical changes.

The most effective action to help us make this world a good place is at big scales. Big action can focus on the powerful subset of society that is mostly to blame for our environmental problems. In fact, individual lifestyle changes won’t make a big difference. Our economies need to be more centralized and regulated than a free market system to support environmental protection. Ultimately, incremental change will not do much; we need radical change.

Going Deeper

Going Deeper With Place, Knowledge, and Action

The three EcoTypes themes you read above gather all twelve axes into three big questions, for which there are two divergent answers, summarized via their attractors.

These attractors derive from survey responses, but they are evidenced in environmental discourse—the ways we commonly talk about environmental issues. Can you imagine some examples for each?

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