I get that Not Boring is about optimism, but I feel like attacking “doomerism” by quoting facts isn’t the most productive way forward. It comes across as saying “you are stupid to feel like that.” Which I’ve done too many time myself!
I’ve said it last week, and I’ll say it again: people who are scared and pessimistic don’t need more data, they need *compassion.*
Yes, believe me, I _know_ it is annoying and frustrating when people seem stuck in unhealthy mindsets that make themselves miserable and stifle progress. But they aren’t the problem -- they are the challenge!
Rather than berating people for feeling negative, why don’t we invite them reflect on what kind of positive change they’d need to see in order to feel more optimistic?
Their answers might be surprising, and even instructive...
if we were around when land plants/trees were first forming deep roots, we would most certainly be calling that ecological collapse. plants were extracting minerals from the ground, allowing them to wash into the ocean causing a mass-extinction of marine life. yet it never fully collapsed. organisms adapted just as they always have
this is similar to how several years ago people were extremely concerned with coral population collapse in the great barrier reef, but in 2022 coral broke multi-decade-old records for highest coral coverage
one reef appearing to get healthy is not indicative of the global pattern of reef health. yes, potentially there is hope, but it appears governments still lack the will to make change happen. see the un's recent analysis
But calling it ecological collapse is precisely the doomerism that the article is talking about. It's all semantics of course, but in the end no one really knows what will happen 10, 25 or 50 years from now.
What we have is trends. As Noah Smith's article says even, now those trends are starting to buckle down.
We cant know what will happen 10/15 years from now, when my generation and Gen Z's (who've grown up with more ecological awareness than all other before us) are decision makers in government and the private sector. Humanity is, if anything, resilient and adaptable.
You can choose to be a doomerist, and if society collapses, then so be it, how unlucky have we been? But I'd rather be an optimist and trust my fellow humans.
if you are standing in the middle of a train track looking at a flower and i tell you that a train is coming. then i tell you it's only a hundred metres away and you're gonna have a problem if you don't move pronto. am i a doomerist or stating a fact.
61 UK companies volunteered to take part in a 'four-day week trail' representing 2,900 employees.
56 of these companies said they would continue. As a scientific experiment, the small self-selecting sample should limit many broader conclusions.
The four-day working week comes from the same thinking as erm the five-day working week (see article below). In the great online game, and world of web3, more radical approaches are needed to future work design?
Sounds nice but 4-5 million trees taken in context of the 3 trillion trees worldwide = greenwashing.
Re: Technology advancement
I suggest listening to what Thiel has been saying for at least 6 years now: the US and the West in general is not progressing technologically as evidenced by productivity increases and economic growth numbers.
Compare the last 2 decades of "progress" with any 2 decades from the Industrial Age onward - it ain't pretty.
"Technology" that doesn't increase productivity or economic growth = rearranging chairs on the economic Titanic.
I get that Not Boring is about optimism, but I feel like attacking “doomerism” by quoting facts isn’t the most productive way forward. It comes across as saying “you are stupid to feel like that.” Which I’ve done too many time myself!
I’ve said it last week, and I’ll say it again: people who are scared and pessimistic don’t need more data, they need *compassion.*
Yes, believe me, I _know_ it is annoying and frustrating when people seem stuck in unhealthy mindsets that make themselves miserable and stifle progress. But they aren’t the problem -- they are the challenge!
Rather than berating people for feeling negative, why don’t we invite them reflect on what kind of positive change they’d need to see in order to feel more optimistic?
Their answers might be surprising, and even instructive...
Definitely Fridays off...
good job
it's not a climate crisis, it's ecological collapse. big difference. the former makes it sound like a sniffle.
if we were around when land plants/trees were first forming deep roots, we would most certainly be calling that ecological collapse. plants were extracting minerals from the ground, allowing them to wash into the ocean causing a mass-extinction of marine life. yet it never fully collapsed. organisms adapted just as they always have
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-arrival-of-tree-roots-may-have-triggered-mass-extinctions-in-the-ocean
this is similar to how several years ago people were extremely concerned with coral population collapse in the great barrier reef, but in 2022 coral broke multi-decade-old records for highest coral coverage
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/04/great-barrier-reef-areas-show-highest-coral-cover-seen-in-36-years.html
one reef appearing to get healthy is not indicative of the global pattern of reef health. yes, potentially there is hope, but it appears governments still lack the will to make change happen. see the un's recent analysis
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/why-are-coral-reefs-dying
But calling it ecological collapse is precisely the doomerism that the article is talking about. It's all semantics of course, but in the end no one really knows what will happen 10, 25 or 50 years from now.
it's only semantics when you don't have evidence. we do.
What we have is trends. As Noah Smith's article says even, now those trends are starting to buckle down.
We cant know what will happen 10/15 years from now, when my generation and Gen Z's (who've grown up with more ecological awareness than all other before us) are decision makers in government and the private sector. Humanity is, if anything, resilient and adaptable.
You can choose to be a doomerist, and if society collapses, then so be it, how unlucky have we been? But I'd rather be an optimist and trust my fellow humans.
if you are standing in the middle of a train track looking at a flower and i tell you that a train is coming. then i tell you it's only a hundred metres away and you're gonna have a problem if you don't move pronto. am i a doomerist or stating a fact.
I'm not sure the 4-Day-Work Week is the answer.
61 UK companies volunteered to take part in a 'four-day week trail' representing 2,900 employees.
56 of these companies said they would continue. As a scientific experiment, the small self-selecting sample should limit many broader conclusions.
The four-day working week comes from the same thinking as erm the five-day working week (see article below). In the great online game, and world of web3, more radical approaches are needed to future work design?
https://workforcefuturist.substack.com/p/why-the-four-day-week-is-not-the-answer
Isn’t an extra day off each week 50% “more time doing what we love”, not 14%? 3 day weekend vs. 2 day weekend
As far as immigration, we are not getting skilled AI or tech immigrants we are getting under the table non skilled labour who do not pay taxes.
Re: GMO trees
Sounds nice but 4-5 million trees taken in context of the 3 trillion trees worldwide = greenwashing.
Re: Technology advancement
I suggest listening to what Thiel has been saying for at least 6 years now: the US and the West in general is not progressing technologically as evidenced by productivity increases and economic growth numbers.
Compare the last 2 decades of "progress" with any 2 decades from the Industrial Age onward - it ain't pretty.
"Technology" that doesn't increase productivity or economic growth = rearranging chairs on the economic Titanic.