Friday, May 08, 2015

Have I become a techno-optimist?

Working in the tech industry, I often feel like a fish out of water. I'm usually surrounded by people who are even more enthusiastic about technology than the general populace. It's not that I'm anti-tech - it's just that I don't think technology is the answer to all of our problems. Or to put it another way, any individual piece of technology may be positive, negative or neutral, and which one may depend on your perspective. 

For example, chemical pesticides could be seen as a positive by a farmer using them, but negative if you are one of the critters being killed directly or indirectly. Likewise, something that seems like a good idea initially like using the CFC Freon as a safe refrigerant, becomes a terrible idea with the benefit of hindsight and additional knowledge of its role in damaging the ozone layer.

My viewpoint on technology has sometimes been mistaken for cynicism but I don't think that's accurate. It's just that I'm a little less "gung-ho" and a little more skeptical about each new technological advance or proposal. Which is to say I agree with the general theme of Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation - our faith in technological fixes will not save us from the reality that awaits. At least not in the long run.

Having said that, I must admit that I'm at least a little bit excited and hopeful about the Tesla Powerwall. It's going to be fascinating to see just what impact it will eventually have. Are wall mounted lithium-ion batteries going to become ubiquitous in the modern home? Or in the developing world? Will it transform consumer energy usage in unpredictable ways? Will it kill off numerous businesses and spawn new ones in the process? Maybe not overnight, or in the first generation of devices. Eventually however, I actually think the chances of it doing all of that are fair to good - and that's from someone who tends to be a bit of a doomer :) 

Saturday, April 04, 2015

Trawling to extinction

The battle to keep large fishing trawlers out of Australian waters continues, as mentioned here.
Commonwealth Fisheries Association director, Brian Jeffriess, said there would be nothing to fear from the arrival of the new fishing trawler. "There's much bigger boats than this operating all around Australia and have been for 10 to 15 years," he said.
10-15 years huh?  It's also more than 10 years since The Empty Ocean was published, which was around the same time that studies showed that the number of large predatory fish in the worlds oceans had crashed by 90% due to industrialized fishing. It was made perfectly clear back then that tuna, swordfish, marlins, sharks, rays, and a host of others will likely be victims of a human caused mass marine extinction if destructive fishing methods were not curtailed.

And it's also perfectly clear to me that as a civilization, we've made our decision. We don't care. Or at least not enough to stop this madness.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Dealing with Climate Change Deniers

The fact that *anybody* still denies climate change blows my mind. But unfortunately, I do know a few people who are dubious that climate change is happening, or if it is happening they think it's not caused by human activity and there is hence no need to change our collective behavior.

Something I've often pondered is how to best approach the topic, or conduct a discussion with a denier so that you have a reasonable chance of changing their mind - assuming such a thing is possible.

Now instinctively, I often get frustrated and angry in the face of such willful stupidity. But showing that anger (by yelling "you stupid fuck" for instance) obviously does not actually help.

And it's natural to want to use facts to shoot down and refute their arguments. But that doesn't work either. It doesn't work for lots of reasons, some of which are discussed here. In fact, not only are facts ineffective, they can actually make the existing wrongheaded beliefs stronger! This is due to something called the "Backfire Effect", the implications of which are really quite frightening.

So if a rational, fact-based discussion doesn't work, what does? My recent thinking is that you have to let that person come to their own realisation and understanding of the truth. You can do that by encouraging them to actually think about the issue, and I think the best way to do that is to ask questions. They don't necessarily have to be leading questions, or overly combative. 

For example, "Where do you think the science is wrong?". "Do you believe co2 is a greenhouse gas?". Do you believe co2 levels are now 40% higher than at the start of the Industrial Revolution? Why / Why not?"

Just reasonable questions that encourages them to *think* through the issue. And often, believe it or not, that's actually enough.

Saturday, January 03, 2015

And we're back..

It's been a while. Six years in fact. This blog has always remained at the back of my mind over that time. Something I always planned to return to one day. Naturally, I've had plenty of environmental and political thoughts and issues I wanted to blog about but never quite managed to find the time to flesh them out or do them justice.

But it's a new year, a time for resolutions and hopefully I can resume where I left off, just a little older and wiser. Or maybe not.

I really only post here for my own benefit anyway - it helps me clarify ideas, positions and views that I've been thinking about or have read about recently.

So what have I done over that last six years? I no longer live in suburbia. We built an eco-friendly home, and grow a lot of our own food. We now live in a community that seems to care about the environment. I've changed jobs a few times, including a stint at a mining company (I'm not sure if that is ironic or hypocritical given some of the views I've expressed here). All of these things I plan to blog about soon. Stay tuned...