AI vs humans: The ‘singularity’ keeps getting postponed
AI boosters keep postponing the advent of artificial general intelligence.
You Can Learn a Lot About Someone’s Mind From the Way They Talk
Scientists are uncovering how the hidden effort of talking affects everything from everyday conversations to spotting deception and fake news.
Peak Oil, Ponzi Pyramids, and Planetary Boundaries
In this week’s Frankly, Nate returns from New York City Climate Week with fresh reflections on the disconnect between our economic narratives and biophysical realities.
Emergence
You might think, as I did, that that emergence is coming out of something and leaving difficulty behind, but I discovered, as I wrote this piece, it is in fact about becoming a different kind of creature for a world turned upside down. The Labyrinth is a training ground for a re-entry.
Debating degrowth: A response to Jason Hickel
We really believe that degrowth is a more complex, substantial and significant concept and movement than its treatment in the Hickel interview. We think that the degrowth movement has a very important role to play in the challenging political context.
An Update On the Mother Orca, Alki
As I wrote about earlier, in September another mother Orca, Alki, was spotted pushing her dead calf through the waters of the Salish Sea. Two days later, on September 15th, she was spotted without her calf and it’s assumed she’s released it, which is good news as such exertions place a significant strain on creatures already struggling to survive.
Moral Ambition: Redefining Success for the Global Good
In today’s episode, Nate sits down with Dutch historian and author Rutger Bregman to discuss the concept of moral ambition, which he defines as the desire to be one of the best, measured by different standards of success: not by big payouts or fancy honorifics, but by the ability to tackle the world’s biggest problems.
A Tale of Government Most Fowl (Part 2)
The ultimate answer to the whiplash problem — whether clean energy or healthcare programs — is bipartisanship, which seems a long way off. But it starts with better messaging.
Finding Lights in a Dark Age: Excerpt
What matters above all is that people get occupancy rights that give them the long-term residential security to address their livelihood needs, and it’s entirely possible that these will sometimes be obtained in urban or suburban situations.
Jane Goodall, the gentle disrupter whose research on chimpanzees redefined what it meant to be human
Anyone proposing to offer a master class on changing the world for the better, without becoming negative, cynical, angry or narrow-minded in the process, could model their advice on the life and work of pioneering animal behavior scholar Jane Goodall.
Cider, crumble, and what roast pork loves
There are mass-produced ciders on the market, usually packed full of added sugar and additives, but we were only interested in the artisanal drink — made with love and care, a great deal of back-breaking work and no small amount of skill.
A Theory Gone Flat
A lesson for me is that these people pay too much attention to their brain chatter and not enough to the actual universe full of sunsets and stars. We could all learn from this: consult the actual universe, not what you would wish to be true.
