Empiricism @Empiricism_Reloaded@qoto.org

They do like to talk ideas to death.

However, #evolution by natural selection had no foresight. Therefore, evolution can't be deterministic.

We certainly could use some fresh thinkers in the social media evolution \ #philosophy academia scene.
But, Incorrect ideas tend to die out over a generational time frame (bad habits & incorrect ideas die out [in the scientific social scene])

The Dissenter: #787 Kennon Sheldon - Freely Determined; The New Psychology of the Self, and How to Live

Episode webpage: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thedissenter/episodes/787-Kennon-Sheldon---Freely-Determined-The-New-Psychology-of-the-Self--and-How-to-Live-e1v2s2o

Media file: https://anchor.fm/s/822ba20/podcast/play/65154584/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2023-1-16%2F38529dce-5402-eb2b-fa7b-e368eaa0ccfa.m4a

#science #EvolutionaryBiology #psychology

Can computer music be sustainable? For example, music software users less resources than hardware.

New Books in Sound Studies: #Computer #Music and Human Computer Interaction

Episode webpage: https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/sound-studies/

Media file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBN7792112183.mp3?updated=1676981749

#sustainability #vst #software

To understand #evolution is to understand the self.

Evolution Talk: Introducing Evolution Talk!

Episode webpage: https://evolutiontalk.com

Media file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/evolutiontalk/ET_Intro-8_27_14_6_37_PM-auphonic_all.mp3?dest-id=522162

#science #podcast

Do you believe that people that breed dogs - select certain traits in a male & or female #dog , and these traits can be passed into the pups?

Well, then, you believe in #evolution!

Learn about how humans of the past helped build the bond between us and our favorite furry friends. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2021/03/23/meet-scientist-studying-how-dogs-evolved-predator-pet/

#dogs #ancestry

Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic (& painting the Titanic green)

Generally, people think about what they want & need (proximate #psychology )

#Politicians want to sustain their political popularity.

Rich people want to sustain their lifestyles #money #money more #money

Corporations (Businesses \ industries) want to sustain their business.

When in the history of #capitalism , has an industry intentionally tried to go out of #business ?

The following quote is part revealing the truth (the business-as-usual agenda) and part #misinformation (possibly #disinformation ). To quote #Qantas (aviation) "Because it’s new technologies and bringing proven solutions to scale that will deliver the emissions reductions we need, and protect the future of travel in the process,” Andrew Parker, Chief Sustainability Officer, Qantas Group.

How nice sounding, new "technologies" and "proven" "solutions" to "scale". Sounds like business-as-usual simply wants to protect it's ass(sets) and sell more stuff!

How about some fancy #tech air respirators since #wildfires are becoming as common as ignorant or misinformed salespeople?

What about clothing with an inbuilt refrigerator so the poor can try not to die during severe and prolonged heat waves?

Or perhaps the housing estates that are being built on floodplains can have lifeboats retrofitted?

The list of ways to make more money is endless. Well, at least until climate change causes the world economy to collapse. The idea of indefinite "growth" isn't only flawed thinking, it's really quite stupid (or is it simply a sales pitch?)

Evidently, the business-as-usual #capitalist agenda is to continue to be in business. No industries openly ask, to paraphrase "Is it actually possible for our core business to be sustainable?" https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/qantas-group-creates-worlds-largest-airline-climate-fund (maybe they have a problem with being honest in public)

Seriously, they NEVER ask the important question! Can the business ever be sustainable? Of course, they're business people promoting their personal agendas (not considering all the variables, the evidence, the nature-based solutions).

The Qantas " #sustainability " officer simply assumes that aviation is a must-have. As do many consumers. Of course, they do because that's simply what they want to believe - and that's why many industries are failing to be ecologically sustainable. Because they're not (period).

#climate #ClimateChange BusinessAsUsual caused #ClimateCrisis

#sustainable #degrowth #Energy & #resource saving

The effects of climate change will only get worse. "Better" is a time in the distant future when either:

1. Humans have made the right choices (e.g., Stopped burning carbon-based fuels)

Or

2. The effects of climate change have reduced human activities.

Though, in general, points 1 & 2 are the future. Severe weather has a way of shifting people's immediate priorities. Bearing in mind that in a global economy, severe weather will affect food distribution.

Top 10: Causes Of Global Warming 2023 https://sustainabilitymag.com/top10/top-10-causes-global-warming

#climate #climatechange

#unsustainable #food #economy #tech #agriculture #Overfishing #Industrialization #consumerism #transportation #PowerGeneration #Waste #Deforestation

They think they're cool (clever) but they're behaving like fools.

The difference between understanding evolutionary biology at some level or another, and not, is that informed people can understand the drivers or motivations that make animals do what they do (including humans. At some level).

An evident motivator that everyone will be aware of is hunger. Hunger is a negative behavioral motivator. Whilst many people in wealthy countries will not have experienced real hunger, at extreme levels hunger will dominate the animal's mind (as would thirst). The animal would be "obsessed" with trying to find food (I acknowledge the anthropomorphization of "obsessed". However, a feeling of angst that focuses the animal's attention on finding food). Basically, the feelings associated with hunger are adaptations. If an animal was born that did not feel hunger, it would die - it would not pass on that behavior to the next generation (Although, if that animal was a human, a baby, carers could make sure that the youngster eat enough food).

Humans are no exception (though some delude themselves otherwise. A form of narcissism or ego), humans are also driven by feelings (emotions or instincts). For example, many humans take part in relatively foolishly dangerous behaviors because they are "showing off". Whilst any human can "show off", (many) men tend to dominate in the showing off by taking part in stupidly reckless activities department. Showing off is status-seeking behavior. For example, showing off resources such as expensive sports cars. Showing off by, in their minds, showing off their driving skills by driving cars fast or riding motorbikes fast. If the car or motorbike has a relatively loud engine, well, that's another way to show their status (perhaps they perceive that some people look at them because they're cool - rather than thinking they're simply noisy irritating fools).

So, what they don't realize is that they're actually acting like fools. They think they're cool but they're behaving like fools. Fundamentally, they're being idiots. Their dangerous driving is risking the safety of other people for no reason - other than to show off (an instinct - which is now a maladaptation). Of course, many adult males, as they mature, may come to realize that their risk-taking behaviors are simply not worth it. However, that realization (learning or maturity) takes a level of intelligence. Some adult males never grow up (they just look older).

Risk-taking behaviors are particularly dangerous when, for example, many adults are voting in a democracy. For example, they may ignore the medical advice about wearing face masks during a pandemic or the scientific warnings about climate change. Apparently, face masks aren't macho enough!

So, how do we mitigate the fools thinking their cool social psychological phenomenon? We try to educate more people about evolutionary psychology so that they recognize stupid when they see it.

Evolutionary Psychology - The New Science of the Mind https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429061417

#adaptation #psychology #EvolutionBiology #EvolutionaryPsychology #SocialPsychology #health #education #sports #cars #motobikes #democracy

#maladaptation #mutation #SarCov2 #covid #pandemic #climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

Burning away their future.

I've spent over a decade thinking about, studying, and speaking out against human-caused ecological negligence. That negligence takes multitudes of forms. For example, local people burn biomass such as farmers burning piles of tree branches on their land or neighbors burning piles of plants in their gardens (colloquial terms such as "bonfires", "campfires", "BBQs", etc). For the relatively ignorant and small-minded, these localized air-polluting activities may not seem like a big deal. However, humans taking part in activities that emit air pollution causes both diseases (proximate) and will ultimately cause human societies to collapse (eventually) due to the effect of climate heating (caveat. If humans don't change their air polluting behaviors - and stop doing them).

During my time of environmental activism, I've had many different ideologies of my own. I used to be more naive and believed that people only need to be informed about how air pollution causes disease and climate change. However, to inform someone about the harm caused by, for example, inhaling smoke pollution, that someone must:

1. Have the background knowledge to understand what you're talking about (e.g., chemistry, biology).

2. Care.

Or

3. Care and trust what you are saying (trust the source of information. e.g., a Doctor or scientist can be a less or more trusted source of information).

Unfortunately, many people don't have the required background knowledge (e.g., scientifically illiterate) and trust the wrong sources of information such as the adverts from the businesses that are selling fuels and their associated politicians - also known as #GreenWash #disinformation or phrasing it simply, lying so as to make a profit (fraud \ corruption)

However, when speaking out against air pollution I did use to think that the response I received from people was because, in general, humanity didn't care. However, I came to realize that that idea didn't make sense (in general).

To explain why that didn't make sense I will briefly describe what air pollution is and its effects on humans and the environment. (generally) Air pollution is caused by burning the element carbon. All living organisms (Plants, Animals, Fungi, Bacteria, Viruses, etc) are carbon-based lifeforms (including humans). When carbon is burnt that chemical activity emits gasses (e.g., carbon dioxide) and carbon particles (e.g., smoke) into the air (atmosphere, generally). Whilst there are other chemicals involved during the burning process, the majority of harm is caused when humans inhale carbon particles. Once a human has inhaled, for example, smoke or traffic pollution, the carbon particles travel into the lungs and from there into the bloodstream. In a dense form, carbon particles can be seen with the unaided eye, for example, smoke, when more dispersed carbon particles can't be seen (unless viewed through a microscope. Hence the term, microscopic particles).

Once in the body, carbon particles cause damage to humans. It's a long list of diseases, however, an example of a few: cancer, asthma, dementia (i.e., brain damage), and heart attacks, strokes (cardiovascular diseases in general).

For a general overview of the medical evidence of the effects of wood smoke inhalation see the Doctors and Scientists against woodsmoke pollution website https://www.dsawsp.org/

Finding scientific evidence about how deadly is air pollution isn't difficult, but, folk generally aren't that interested in that evidence (it's not a cute cat picture or sports cars). https://www.sciencedirect.com/search?qs=air%20pollution

So, as mentioned, I once thought that the reason why, for example, people didn't respond as expected when I stated the fact that, for example, air pollution causes childhood disease or climate change, was because humans, in general, didn't care.

However, people do of course care about their own health. Therefore, something else is going on. What is the underlying psychology that makes people thoughtlessly ignore the (not pleasant) information that would improve their own health outcomes? Nobody wants cancer, asthma, heart disease, or dementia.

Air pollution causes dementia https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=air+pollution+dementia

Generally, what's going on is humans' fear, ignorance and denial are causing people to not learn how air pollution affects their health or the climate.

So, many people are thoughtless (ill-informed) regarding how the effects of how their own air-polluting activities are harming their own health and causing climate heating. Whilst there are many examples of this ecological thoughtless negligence, a trip to, for example, many #uk campsites will prove my point. There you will see many adults choosing to sit around campfires or BBQs, oblivious to the fact what they are doing is harming themselves by inhaling wood smoke pollution (although, having fun whilst doing it).

Humans have been burning wood for hundreds of thousands of years (if not longer). Evidently, many humans enjoy doing it. They enjoy the fire, the smell, the experience. However, besides air pollution causing human disease, air pollution also damages the environment. From acid rain to climate change, humans are burning away their future.

A general solution https://qoto.org/@Empiricism_Reloaded/110511036586999020

However, if humanity was choosing and focusing on the general solutions climate change would have been mitigated.

#science #evolution #psychology #pollution #climate #ClimateChange #wildfires #Smoke #FaceMasks

#health #chemisty #biology #CleanAir