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As humanity grapples with the undeniable urgency of climate action, a striking pattern has emerged within the broader environmental discourse—a pervasive sense of despair and finality, often branded as “doomerism.” This mentality, deeply influenced by cinematic visual culture, frames the climate crisis as the catastrophic climax of a global narrative, akin to the apocalyptic finales seen in blockbuster movies. However, to truly overcome this immobilizing mindset, we must adopt a cybernetic analysis of what I call “climactic feedback.” Through a dialectical approach, we can move beyond despair and actively shape a future grounded in hope and agency.

The Role of Cinematic Visual Culture in Shaping Climate Consciousness

In the age of ubiquitous media, visual culture—especially cinema—has become a key shaper of how we collectively perceive crises. Climate change, as portrayed in movies like Don’t Look Up (2021), is often depicted as an inescapable disaster, hurtling humanity toward a grand, tragic finale. In the movie, scientists and activists struggle to convince a complacent public and power-hungry politicians of an impending comet collision, an allegory for the climate crisis. The film’s portrayal resonates with the growing “doomer” narrative: we are past the point of no return, trapped in a countdown to catastrophe.

This apocalyptic framing has a two-fold effect. On one hand, it raises awareness about the urgency of the crisis; on the other, it induces paralysis, fostering the belief that no meaningful action can reverse the course. This is where climactic feedback comes into play. Just as in cybernetics—the study of systems and feedback loops—society’s reaction to the climate crisis is shaped by the feedback loop of despair generated by these media depictions. The more we are bombarded with images of inevitable doom, the more our actions—or lack thereof—reinforce this narrative.

Cybernetic Feedback: The Loop of Doom

In cybernetic terms, feedback loops are mechanisms by which systems self-regulate. Positive feedback amplifies certain behaviors, while negative feedback curtails them. The “climactic feedback” loop can be understood as a positive feedback system where the more dire the portrayal of the climate situation becomes, the more individuals feel helpless. This helplessness, in turn, leads to inaction, reinforcing the very doom that these apocalyptic images predict.

Take Don’t Look Up as an example. The film’s satirical lens offers a biting critique of societal apathy and media-driven complacency. But while it captures the absurdity of ignoring a crisis, it also mirrors the broader cultural feedback loop of defeatism: the message that humanity will simply keep “looking down,” unable to break free from the destructive inertia. This dynamic highlights how climactic feedback can trap society in a passive state, waiting for the inevitable collapse rather than actively shaping alternative futures.

Breaking the Loop: Dialectical Cybernetics and Overcoming Doomerism

To escape this feedback loop, we need a new framework—one rooted in dialectical cybernetics. This interdisciplinary approach combines the principles of dialectical materialism with cybernetic feedback systems. In dialectical terms, contradictions within a system drive its evolution. Applied to the climate crisis, we can understand the contradictions between doomerism (apathy due to despair) and action (the drive to change our circumstances). Cybernetics helps us map these contradictions, showing how the system’s negative and positive feedback loops can be adjusted.

One key contradiction lies in the roles of “gaze” and “voice.” In the context of climate activism, the “gaze” represents the collective awareness of the crisis—everyone is watching, but watching alone doesn’t change the situation. The “voice,” meanwhile, symbolizes the power to speak out and take action. The more individuals rely solely on the gaze, consuming apocalyptic media without engaging their voices in activism, the more the feedback loop reinforces despair.

To break this loop, we must balance the gaze with voice—engage with the problem and express alternative futures. Dialectical cybernetics teaches us that we can shift systems not by suppressing the contradictions, but by transforming them. In practical terms, this means reframing climate action away from the narrative of a final showdown and toward a more continuous, evolving process. We must cultivate a collective voice that counters the climactic gaze, promoting incremental progress and systemic change over cinematic apocalypticism.

The Paradox of Don’t Look Up: A Tool for Transformation?

Interestingly, Don’t Look Up itself holds a paradoxical potential within this discourse. While the film reinforces the doomer narrative, it also serves as a satirical wake-up call, encouraging viewers to see the absurdity in their own complacency. The film’s satirical tone invites us to laugh at our failures but also to reflect on how to change course. In this way, Don’t Look Up can serve as a tool not for despair, but for transformation—highlighting the importance of shifting from passive observation to active participation.

Learning to Gaze and Voice: Toward a Cybernetic Future

As we navigate this climactic feedback, we must learn to manage both the gaze and the voice through dialectical cybernetics. Instead of passively absorbing dystopian visions, we can actively engage in reshaping the feedback loops that govern our responses to the climate crisis. By understanding the dynamic tensions within the system—the push and pull between despair and hope, apathy and action—we can design interventions that foster resilience, innovation, and collaboration.

Humanity must confront the gaze of climate catastrophe without succumbing to it. Through a dialectical cybernetic lens, we can dismantle the loop of doom and shift toward a feedback system that amplifies constructive action. It’s time to rewrite the script—not as the final act of a tragedy, but as an evolving story of adaptation, resilience, and renewal.

By combining dialectical analysis with cybernetic principles, we can break free from the doomer mentality and shape a future that transcends the apocalyptic climax. The key lies in balancing the gaze with the voice, recognizing the contradictions within our systems, and fostering adaptive, transformative solutions.

Prompt: although serene climate action is absolutely necessary, current apocalyptic climate activism is trapped in what may be called a “climactic feedback” that views the situation like the dramatic ending of a moving picture, deserving the name “doomer”! humanity urgently needs the cybernetic analysis of this “climactic feedback” to be able to leave it behind! explain how this term relates to ubiquitous cinematic visual culture and how to overcome this mentality, with the paradoxical role of the movie Don’t Look Up! humanity must learn to deal with the gaze and the voice through dialectical cybernetics (explained below)! write a newspaper article! (Dialectical Cybernetics)