Reproduced from CounterCurrents
(Click image to read the article on the CounterCurrents website.)
CounterCurrents’s 6 October 2025 article ‘Understanding the Human Psyche to Save the Planet: Jeremy Griffith’s Revolutionary Insight’, by Dr Chanchal Malhotra:
As the planet teeters on the brink of ecological collapse, the loss of biodiversity has become both a global tragedy and a deeply personal one, especially in a country as biologically rich as India. From the regal Bengal tiger stalking the forests of central India to the ghost-like snow leopard of the Himalayas, and from the critically endangered gharial gliding through the Ganges to the tree-dwelling Malabar giant squirrel with its riot of colour, India shelters some of the most extraordinary and ancient creatures on Earth. Unique wonders, such as the purple frog that emerges just once a year, the blind Ganges River dolphin, and the lion-tailed macaque of the Western Ghats remind us of how diverse and delicate life can be. But these species—and countless others—are vanishing. What we face is not merely an environmental crisis, but a crisis of understanding: of our relationship to nature, and more profoundly, of ourselves.
In his article, Environmental-Political Collapse Accelerates, Richard Heinberg paints a sobering picture of our world: ecosystems are collapsing, species are vanishing, and political systems are unravelling under the weight of environmental degradation. As a biologist and educator, I have long been concerned about these issues. However, as someone who has also deeply studied the work of Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith, I believe we must go further than merely decrying the destruction—we must understand the psychological motivations behind it.
To this end, Griffith’s explanation of the human condition offers a profound insight: the environmental crisis is not just a result of industrialisation or capitalism or over-population—it is a manifestation of an unresolved, species-wide inner conflict. And until there is widespread recognition of this core issue and Griffith’s resolution of it, our efforts to save the planet will remain impotent and incomplete.
Why Are We Destroying Our Own Home?
Heinberg rightly points out that we are in the midst of a “polycrisis”—a convergence of ecological, political, and social breakdowns. It refers to increased pollution, resource depletion, population growth, rising material prosperity and consumerism. But why would a species that depends on nature for survival destroy its habitat? Why, when we are such an intelligent species, do we continue to pollute, deforest, and overconsume, even when we know the destructive and self-destructive consequences?
As I described in a previous Countercurrents.org piece, The World Transformation Movement: A revolution that’s changing lives and saving the environment, Griffith answers this question by explaining that humans are not inherently destructive. Our original nature—before the emergence of our conscious mind—was cooperative, loving, and nurturing. But when our capacity for conscious thought emerged approximately two million years ago, it began to challenge our instincts. This tension created a deep psychological rift between our instinctive orientation, which demanded we live in accordance with its ‘rules’, and our intellectual need to understand and self-manage from a basis of insight and reason.
This conflict led to what Griffith calls the ‘human condition’—a state of psychological undeserved guilt, shame and insecurity that has driven much of human behaviour for the past two million years. In our effort to prove our worth and find meaning, we have increasingly turned to domination and material prosperity to attain psychological relief.
This insight was profoundly moving. As someone who has always loved nature and taught biology, I used to feel despair at the loss of biodiversity and the rise of climate chaos. But Griffith’s work helped me understand that this destruction is not due to evil or ignorance—it is a symptom of a psychological malaise. It is the outward expression of inner turmoil.
Healing the Inner to Heal the Outer
To prevent environmental collapse, we must go beyond policy and technology. We must address the cause of our troubled psychology and this requires understanding the human condition. Griffith’s work shows that if we can reconcile our split selves, we can begin to heal. As we heal, our relationship with nature will also change. We will no longer see it as something to exploit, but as something to cherish and protect.
A Call for a Deeper Environmentalism
The environmental movement has achieved much, but it has been fighting a rising tide, unable to stem the effects of the underlying psychological drive behind the crises. We discuss carbon footprints and conservation, but we have been unable to address our anger, selfishness, and alienation, which result in our insensitivity toward the natural world.
It is time for a deeper environmentalism—one that includes self-understanding of ourselves as a core principle; one that recognises that saving the planet requires not just external action, but internal transformation.
Conclusion
The collapse we are witnessing is not just environmental or political—it is existential. It is the result of a species that is immensely psychologically embattled and disconnected from its true nature. However, thanks to Jeremy Griffith’s work, we now have the insights to understand ourselves and change course. Let us not just fight to save the environment because the stakes are not abstract. They are the echoing calls of the Bengal tiger in a shrinking jungle, the silent dive of the Ganges river dolphin in polluted waters, the fleeting appearance of the purple frog in a vanishing monsoon. Let us heal the human condition—and in doing so, heal the world and preserve the extraordinary life it sustains.
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Dr Chanchal Malhotra holds a Master’s in Botany and a Doctorate in Biotechnology (Plant Physiology). She is a former Assistant Professor of Botany at Baba Mastnath University in Rohtak, Haryana, India and is currently a Senior Academic Consultant in a government organisation. She has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals; has presented biodiversity awareness programmes at international conferences; is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation (JBC); and is a Series Editor for Futuristic Trends in Biotechnology. She is also an Advisory Committee Member of the Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, an active platform to create awareness about environment related issues.
