To put it quite simply: I don't like plastic plants. Being pretty good with plants, I can generally tell the difference between a plastic plant and a real one. When I see a plastic plant, I cringe. The most ovbious indication is a plastic feel and fake looking veins underneath the fake leaves.
What is going through someone's head when they purchase a plastic plant? Even in a windowless office, under blindingly ugly fluorescent lights, plants will still grow. The Cast-Iron plant is an office favourite and got that name because it is incredibly resilient. Most succulents can be even better candidates because thay don't mind being watered infrequently (or forgotten about).
Seeing a plastic plant tells me that you want to show care for the environment (by wanting green in your house) without caring enough to put the effort toward watering a real plant. This is a "rules for thee but not for me" type situation. Advocating for planet conscious regulation but purchasing plastic for your house is blatant hypocrisy.
So I was doing some thinking about incompatible worldviews. The first one that comes to mind is those who are concerned about overpopulation, but could never morally advocate for a "Thanos protocol" - a systematic culling of the world population. A second, probably more culturally relevant would be throughout recent social justice movements, where it was fashionable to declare your distaste for the police. In that case, would it not be mental gymnastics for to rely on emergency services in a crisis situation?
If you dislike the police, you should be prepared to not need them. If you detest factory farming, logically you must buy local. If you oppose censorship by dictatorships, you should also oppose it by corporations and elsewhere.
I find that there can be a lot of mental incoherence if you aren't careful about what you say. I want to try to ensure I am not mentally incoherent, and so I'm confortable declaring my hate for plastic plants.
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ... As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
I find this to be a wonderfully applicable bible verse. There is a profound warning here to be aware of what you show the world by your actions. This touches on the philosophy of honesty, a subject that I want to do some thinking and reading on.
What do you think when you see a plastic plant? Conact me to share your thoughts.