andrewrgross

joined 1 year ago
MODERATOR OF
[–] andrewrgross 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Well, there is a cycle:

  • Media doesn't cover climate change
  • Groups like Xtinction Rebellion hold a disruptive demonstration
  • Media complains that it's irrational and actually pushes people away from the climate movement
  • A small backlash of commentators point out that they're drawing needed attention to the issue
  • Public discusses climate change until media loses interest

... and the cycle repeats.

I hope that some climate protesters do something flashy and disruptive as soon as possible.

[–] andrewrgross 4 points 2 months ago (3 children)

This looks like a clog caused by retraction.

Is it clogged when it finishes? Also, does the cooling change at this layer? Is there anything specific to this layer?

[–] andrewrgross 30 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

As someone who has thought about this a lot, here's what I try to do myself.

First, let's reconcile some things. On one hand, you have a sense of powerlessness, and it's not an illusion. However on the other, I think there is a real and valid sense among many that Israel's situation has changed in fundamental ways that cannot be undone. And it seems realistic that the current order will fall in our lifetimes. So then how do you and I act to hasten that?

First (and really second, third, and fourth), we must bear witness. We must continue to read these articles and learn about this situation well enough to try and explain it to others. Save articles by Palestinians to use to lift up their voices when opportunities arise.

At this point, it helps to reflect on a certain model of persuasion I like. Our goals are not to convince someone who opposes us to join our side. It's to move people along a ladder. You want to find people who already agree with you but are passive, and activate them to do the things you're already doing. You want to convince people who are neutral to agree with you, passively. You want to convince people who are passively opposed to become neutral. And you want to convince people who are actively opposed to lose their conviction and become passive in their opposition.

This has been happening for a long time, and it's begun to accelerate in the last year. Learn and share knowledge. I don't mean facts: I mean listen to people and slip them time-bomb ideas tailored to where they are that will move them on the ladder the next time they read a headline that you've primed them to look at with new eyes.

Second: I think it's very likely that major turning points will be accompanied by mass actions. Protests don't do anything ... until suddenly they do. Be a member of a group -- DSA, JVP, PYM, etc. -- to make sure that when people march, you'll get the call.

That's pretty much what I have now. That and conversations like this one.

Third, I try to make sure I'm visible in my politics. I wear a kippah, and I have a Palestinian flag pin on it. I've found that this lets fellow Jews who've felt silenced know that I'm safe to talk to about this, and quietly lets Muslim neighbors know I'm with them. I have a drawstring bag with a pro-Palestine message I often carry. If useful to you, consider signaling politely where you stand to let others know.

And lastly: keep the faith. That ladder I mentioned? Zionists are trying to do all this to you too. There are people who want to exhaust you and demoralize you. Take breaks if needed. Don't burn out. Do what you must to stay active for the long haul.

[–] andrewrgross 2 points 2 months ago

Thanks for sharing this. I wasn't familiar with this channel, not I'm liking it.

I just read that this guy was part of Nebula and was forced out. It's remarkable that he's forced out for speaking openly and defending his beliefs when Isaac Arthur is tolerated despite having much more onerous politics but having them in secret. Smh.

[–] andrewrgross 10 points 2 months ago

My kids school has done some of this. Next to his kindergarten class is a little patio where they eat snacks and spend a lot of the day. It used to be concrete, but now it's all wood chips and little logs for stools. The shade is lacking, but it has trees, they're just a bit young. When they fill out, it'll be amazing.

[–] andrewrgross 7 points 2 months ago

I find a big problem we have is that the media and Democrats never seem to educate people on any distinctions between undocumented crossings, Visa overstays, asylum cases, Green cards, naturalization, etc.

It's outrageous that Trump will threaten to depart people who have followed every role as though they're all criminals and no one ever seems to push back on any of it!

He's flirted with deporting natural born Americans, and it's the obvious destination when people passively accept his racialized view of Americanism!

[–] andrewrgross 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Amen. It drives me fuckin' nuts anytime -- in business as well as in sci-fi and general discussion -- when people envision a society made perfect because it's run by a genius computer.

For pretty much every challenge society faces, the major obstacle is not that we're unsure what to do or lack the intelligence to solve. We already have all the solutions, it's just that our decision making systems are completely disinterested in employing any of the solutions that we already have.

It's like, if you could get everyone to agree to listen to a computer, why not just skip the computer and get everyone to agree to listen to a combination of popular will and expert advice? Popular will and expert advice are like the supercomputer that runs society that we already have.

[–] andrewrgross 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”

― Ursula K. Le Guin

[–] andrewrgross 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

You are utterly powerless to stop this, even at your most self actualized, mobile, and focused you are fundamentally incapable of changing what needs to be changed.

This is flat out wrong.

You're missing the point, because your scale is off. I'm not trying to change the planet. I'm trying to change my city and neighborhood. I'm not trying to hold back the tides. I'm trying to teach the next generation the resiliency to survive a long road to something better.

Those goals are totally in my reach. I can't save billions, but I can definitely save dozens. Perhaps hundreds over the next century. And if enough of us do that, collectively we CAN save billions.

[–] andrewrgross 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

And somewhat ironically, the “our species can still turn it around! live in hope!” types are the same ones deadset against revolution to force those living large off destroying the planet to stop in a physical way.

I feel like it's the other way around. I feel like it's my people who are out there getting arrested and making fossil fuel execs upgrade their security detail, and it's the doomers who seem to complain endlessly about how much they hate the taste of shoe leather while somehow spending the most time down there.

[–] andrewrgross 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So do I understand correctly that this is a Principal Component Analysis of the amount of SLRPNK.net users who comment on other instances? This is very cool.

Thanks for sharing this. I would also crosspost to the c/meta.

[–] andrewrgross 6 points 2 months ago (9 children)

Okay well then where's the problem? If there's no point in trying to fight climate change while capitalism exists, then end capitalism. I don't understand where we disagree.

 

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/10927570

Lose yourself in the visionary fiction of Cory Doctorow, the celebrated author and digital rights activist known for his masterful explorations of the intersection of tech and society. And help support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with your purchase.

 

I want to really simple layout to serve as a training simulation. The idea is that I think people will find it easier to learn combat if they can role play, but in world they're in a simulation.

I also wanted to try making a map fast. In the past it's been a long, slow process. This is a partially built trolley in a factory that players can use to trying out tactics.

 
 
82
Tag yourself (slrpnk.net)
submitted 9 months ago by andrewrgross to c/memes
 

A long list of fictional made up "isms". I don't have the patience to transcribe.

 
 

Hypebot is a chill synth DJ. He's not bright, but he loves to party. You can find more about Hypebot on their character sheet. I'll also post Hypebot's bio in the comments.

Art by Jack Gross.

 

There's a scene on an airship ride from the LA spaceport to Long Beach, so I took a picture while I was on the Alameda Ferry a few weeks ago and then edited in a view of the sky. The one passenger who isn't totally blurred out is my husband.

I just erased the windows and put a stock image of the sky behind them. Simple, but effective, right?

 

I think this has to be the first time someone has linked to LinkedIn from this community. But this guy, Brian Rivera, is really repping Oakland CA and the wildly underecognized Bay Area rap scene in this video.

 

This is the work of my brother Jack Gross.

36
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by andrewrgross to c/solarpunk
 

This cover was painted by Sean Bodley for our open-source solarpunk tabletop game. The goal is to try and create something that isn't just representative of a specific narrow version of solarpunk, but can act as a starting point for writers and game masters to create stories that fit their tastes. We want this to be to solarpunk what D&D is to fantasy: whatever you want to make of it.

The default setting is a high-density, high tech, urban, version of solarpunk with a mix of hard science, optimism, radical politics, and an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to world building.

If you want to know more, check out our new website, http://fullyautomatedrpg.com, and if you've got more questions head over to our Lemmy community: https://slrpnk.net/c/fullyautomatedrpg !

We're in beta, and running games on Discord, so if you want to actually plan, follow the link on the website.

You can find more of Sean's work at http://seanbodley.com and https://patreon.com/seanbodley .

16
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by andrewrgross to c/solarpunk
 

I heard about this pre-release last year, but just remembered to check, and it came out three weeks ago!

Description

A newly sentient AI inhabits a Roomba to escape from their research office, and a robotic dog hunts for rain in a drought-ridden world. A murder of crows disrupts production on a solar farm, and a young woman communes with a telepathic fungal network to protect a forest. A suspicious cat follows bees across the rooftops of a solarpunk city, and a rabbit hitches a ride to the Grand Canyon to fulfil a prophecy. The path toward better futures is one we must walk alongside other creatures, negotiating the challenges of multispecies justice. Solarpunk Creatures introduces a whole new cast of more-than-human protagonists: organic and digital, alien and fantastic, tiny and boundlessly large.

Stories:

  • “Threadloom” by N. R. M. Roshak
  • “Sonora’s Journey” by Kai Holmwood
  • “The Colorful Crow Of Web-Of-Life Park” by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
  • “The Business Of Bees” by Andrew Knighton
  • “Night Fowls” by Ana Sun
  • “Water Cycle” by Lauren C. Teffeau
  • “Microbia” by Center For Militant Futurology
  • “Rabbits, Rivers, And Prickly Pears” by Justine Norton-Kertson
  • “Hunting For Rain” by Lyndsey Croal
  • “AI Dreams Of Real Sheep—More At 8” by Commando Jugendstil and Tales from the EV Studio
  • “An Inconvenient Unicorn” by Geraldine Briony Hunt
  • “Quorum Sensing” by Calliope Papas
  • “Flyby” by Priya Sarukkai Chabria
  • “Quarropts Can’t Dance” by Rodrigo Culagovski
  • “Thank Geo” by BrightFlame
  • “Our Minds Share A City” by Catherine Yeates
  • “Hopdog” by Rimi B. Chatterjee
  • “Solar Murder” by A.E. Marling
  • “The Wetlands Versus The Mayor” by Jerri Jerreat
  • “Leaf Whispers, Ocean Song” by Tashan Mehta
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