the greek divide

Maybe, when it comes to who thinks what about climate change, the real question is one of temperament.

The Greeks were onto this. Your mind either turns to Prometheus, and the idea that humans are endlessly inventive and resourceful and they can steal fire from the gods, or your mind turns to Icarus and hubris, and the idea that flying that close to the sun may not be such a great idea.

This temperamental divide is well-illustrated over at the RSA's Art and Ecology blog, where the art critic J.J. Charlesworth takes blogger Wlliam Shaw to task for publicising artists - well, poets, in this case - who have decided not to fly because of the impact that aviation has.

Charlesworth sees this as a moralising campaign for restraint, austerity and self-denial and suggests we think positive and invent a solar-powered plane.

(Pic: Matisse Icarus)