Which Titanic character are you (in the battle against climate disaster)?

An entertaining fad - which may have run its course - asks people a series of innocuous questions with multiple choice answers and using them as a basis, tells you what Disney princess you are, what NASCAR driver you are, or even what color you are. (I'm green, for the record.) These quizzes provide some fun fodder for Facebook posts, but they provide little real insight into a persons character. I offer the following to you as a self-assessment. No lead-in questions about your favorite animal, what you would do with $1,000,000, or which record you would take with you to a deserted island. Just some straight talk.

We all know about the Titanic: the (at the time) largest, fastest cruise liner that ran into an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic. Over the 100 years that have followed, the story has become part lesson and part legend. As we move further away, we are tempted to isolate it as a story of the past that we would never relive, however, in many ways our current battle with climate change mimics much of the thinking and reactions swirling around the sinking of the Titanic. Fortunately, I am not yet certain that we have struck the iceberg, but we are definitely in the cold waters of the North Atlantic pushing out faster than we should without enough lifeboats to go around. Take a look at the following characters and see which one most closely describes your approach to action on climate change.

J. Bruce Ismay: served as chairman and managing director of the White Star Line which included the Titanic. He claims to have been on the Titanic to gain the passenger experience and see how it might be improved on future crossings, but when the largest first-class cabin opened up as JP Morgan canceled, Ismay took it for himself. As part of the legend that will never be verified, it was Ismay who pushed for the Northern route even though iceberg warnings had been issued. In addition, he pushed for the speed so that Titanic would make the fastest crossing on her maiden voyage. As the Titanic sank, Ismay jumped into a lifeboat instead of going down with the ship as so many other men of high esteem did.

In the climate challenge we face, are you pushing for ever greater progress regardless of the consequences, and when the consequences do come, will you be the first in line looking for help from others?

Molly Brown: gained a measure of immortality when Meredith Wilson wrote the 1960 musical about her famed survival of the sinking of the Titanic. The Colorado socialite devoted much of her time to charitable causes: working soup lines, helping soldiers, fighting for workers' rights. During the fateful crossing, she supposedly helped others to board lifeboats until she was forced to get on one herself. Then after the ship sank, she supposedly fought the ranking officer aboard her lifeboat and turned the boat back to look for survivors.

Have you been working on other social justice issues, but recently have been turned toward climate change realizing the impact it has on the most disadvantaged in the world?

Thomas Andrews: designed the Titanic and sailed on her maiden voyage. Each of the accommodations that management (personified by Ismay) requested to provide comfort for the first class ran through Andrews. He designed her to be fast and to withstand almost every form of accident without sinking. (It should be noted that there is no record of anyone publicizing the ship as "unsinkable" prior to the crossing. There is some record of calling it "less sinkable" or a similar phrasing, but not "unsinkable".) It can never be known for certain how much he fought the changes to the bulkhead which, if left in tact, could have resulted in a slower sinking or perhaps even none at all. In addition, instead of providing enough lifeboats for all, he designed in the minimum required to make sure there was enough room for the niceties of travel.

Are you fully aware of the risks of climate change, but unwilling to stand up to those making decisions about what infrastructure is best for us? Worse yet, are you a person with some standing who would rather retain your position than make the changes that are both possible and necessary?

Edward Smith: captained the Titanic. Because he went down with the ship, we can only surmise both his role and reaction. Fictionalized accounts have him resistive to the demands of Ismay that the ship make the dangerous crossing at high speed, but ultimately we judge him by the results. He was the captain, and the route, speed, and reactions were all his responsibility. It was rumored that Smith would retire soon after the Titanic's maiden voyage, and that his role was to see her through this first journey then turn her over.

Have you resigned yourself to follow our current path because the most damaging impacts of climate change will likely occur after your passing? Do you accept responsibility for your actions?

William Murdoch: will serve as a proxy for the crew as a whole. All accounts are that they did exactly what they were supposed to do in every facet of the voyage. As we will see in a minute (see David Blair), there was some confusion early on as to who would assume which role of leadership, but on the whole, with the tools they had, the crew did everything they were supposed to do in the way they were supposed to do it.

Are you along for the ride? As consequences come, will you work to adapt and help others to do so as well, but right now, all you can do is continue along our path hoping that those "in charge" will make the right decisions?

John Jacob Astor: and several other of the world's wealthiest sailed aboard the Titanic because of the prestige of making the maiden voyage on the world's most magnificent display of man's mastery of nature. Astor and his peers drove the progress of civilization and amassed a wealth they considered to be divine providence for their actions. When the ship sank, they admirably followed their duty (for the most part...Astor certainly) by letting the women and children go to the lifeboats while they went down with the ship.

Are you a person who knows there is potential for disaster, but your fortune is tied to the current system, so you would rather go down with the ship than jeopardize your position?

David Blair: "could thank White Star line corporate red tape for saving his life. He had been appointed as second officer of the Titanic, sailing with her during her sea trials, and making the trip from Belfast to Southampton. But he was not on board when the Titanic set sail for America. His appointment also caused confusion as the ship was about the depart for America. In his rush to get off the Titanic and onto the Olympic, Blair took with him by accident, the key to the crow’s nest telephone. Most importantly, as it would turn out for the men in the crow’s nest keeping watch for ice that fateful night, Blair also mislaid the crows nest binoculars. Blair had stowed the lookout’s binoculars in his cabin and failed to inform anyone aboard the ship. When lookout Frederick Fleet went for them, they were not there. So Fleet had no binoculars when he was in the crow’s nest, looking for ice. (Source: Listverse)

Are you in the lucky position to live in an area where climate change will have the least impact on quality of life, yet your actions continue to put others at risk?

Rose and Jack: are not real. They are fictional characters of James Cameron's creation as part of the worldwide sensation that was the 1997 movie. Although compelling, the characters are simply a vehicle to make money off the tragedy.

Do you think climate change is just a fiction created to serve someone's larger agenda? 

Which of these fits your approach to climate change, and which do you wish fit? There is no reporting mechanism, and only time will tell who is right. Until then, sail on!