Maybe I'm anti-bias

cc-by-nc-nd Rosa Rubicondior

Our giant brains are so good at taking shortcuts and, as Dr Belshaw writes, "collapsing context". Another way to put it would be to allow all the various cognitive bias unfettered expression in your thinking processes. Last week I mentioned the frequency bias and refrained from moaning about the media's attempt to make our water scarcity issues completely the fault of the consumer. This week I'm thinking about how we actually have impact changing the world:

“The things that are going to do that are aggressive, experimental, bold policies—not ones that try to marginally reduce meat consumption by 20 or even 50 percent.” Matthew Hayek, an environmental scientist at New York University, in "Veganism Might Not Be the Most Sustainable Diet."

Maybe it's time to let out a bunch of chaos monkeys all over the place. Back up, let me tell you about the Chaos Monkey. Back in the day, Netflix engineers invented a Chaos Monkey programme that would wreak havoc (disable servers) to test resilience in the Netflix infrastructure. Chaos engineering is a technique used by (mostly) big tech to solve problems before they become bigger problems.

Anyway, we've got big problems, and I wonder if we can chaos engineer some solutions. I don't know how exactly we would do that, but somehow glueing our hands to paintings is both chaotic and pointless. Right?

Moral and Refuge > https://www.laurahilliger.com/writing/moral-and-refuge/
Demands and Responsibilities > https://www.laurahilliger.com/writing/demands-and-responsibilities/
Context collection, not context collapse > https://dougbelshaw.com/blog/2022/08/21/quotations-from-and-reflections-on-jenny-odells-book-hoe-to-do-nothing/
The fake online vs in-person culture war > http://blog.edtechie.net/digital-implications/the-fake-online-vs-in-person-culture-war/

Maybe I'm too close

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Underwater sculptures tackling illegal trawling, Image: Carlo Bonazza

The ongoing war in Ukraine has fallen out of the headlines, everyone knows the world is burning, inflation is at an untenable rate. I'm sorry, I can't look away. As I'm writing this, one of Ukraines four nuclear power plants is still off the grid. Russia is flaring a LOT of natural gas near the Finnish border. There's loads of doom and gloom to read about and plan for.

And then there's the hope. Like, I spent a huge amount of time this week working on the new website for our neighbourhood non-profit. We've been protecting a 13 hectare biotope for over 10 years now. I've also been working on a project proposal focused on the issue of water scarcity. Why would I do such things if I didn't have hope?

People out there are working on a better world, we just have to actively remind ourselves of that. Which, in my humble opinion is pretty difficult and exhausting while we're watching shit burn.

Ukraine narrowly escapes nuclear catastrophe as plant loses power, Zelensky says > https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-nuclear-plant-escapes-meltdown-zelenskiy-says-moscow-kyiv-trade-blame-2022-08-25/
Russia burning huge amounts of gas, puzzling experts > https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62652133
Europe Droughts Reveal Hunger Stones: > https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/europe-drought-hunger-stones

Maybe I need help?

I'm not sure where I'm at at the moment. Yesterday I was talking to someone and realised that I too was working towards a culminating event – my trip to America. Now that that's done with, I'm a bit aimless. I need to sort myself out for the autumn and the winter, but for now it's still summer. Maybe next week I'll find some energy and drive.
What about you? Hit reply, I haven't heard from anyone lately. I'm beginning to wonder if you're still there.

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