“What people are not getting is that we can’t turn this back – the CO2 to a large part remains in the air for thousands of years,” said Rahmstorf. “Some people think we can wait and, when it gets too bad, then we reduce emissions and things will get better again. People don’t realise that we can’t make it get better again. We can only prevent it from getting much worse.”
We're not even trying to prevent it from getting worse. Systemic change doesn't happen because, among other things, politicians won't act while people want "change without change" and corporations whisper into their ears. Meanwhile, individual action is close to non-existent thanks to the thought-terminating "it's the corporations' fault".
It's always cars. We really messed up on that one. Initially just another mode of transport, but now also a status symbol, the core of everything we build, and a source of dementia.
You've probably heard of enshittification, a term coined by Cory Doctorow and also a book (which I recommend). Here's a video from the Norwegian Consumer Council that demonstrates it with humour incredibly well.
A fascinating look inside a hidden greenhouse in Los Angeles filled with rare plants. Carlos, their passionate caretaker, gives the tour.
The average IQ was increasing year over year until about 2010, when it started declining. One popular hypothesis is the simultaneous decline of print and the increase in short-form and video content that decreases deep thinking.
A really significant feature of books is that if you make a case in print, you have to make it logically add up. You can’t just assert things in the way you can on TikTok or on YouTube… print privileges a whole way of thinking and a whole way of processing the world that is logical, that is more rational, that is more dense information, that is more intellectually challenging.
