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leftneb · 1 month ago

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to absolutely no one's request: an updated and expanded revision of the a ship chart I made back in august

ramblings about my thought process and clearer definitions of the catergories below the cut :3

plus a blank for your scientific purposes!! I'd honestly love to see other people's charts this was so fun to do

main - self explanatory, these are pairings I'm actively deranged about. always (actively seek out fic etc)

bros - non-romance category, these are pretty much the most prominent "main pairing's friendgroup" lines (plus carjack because I didn't want jack to be lonely lmao)

mentour-mentee - self explanatory (although you can't see it that well on the graph mb) most of these have to do with nationality and teammateship

real - I had a bit of trouble defining where the line between this category and "silly" would be, what I settled on at the end was "would you find this in my reblogs like, more than once" which has a large but not 100% overlap with "pairings I've actually read fic about"

silly - pairings I enjoy in the bg of fic, but wouldn't neccessarilly read about (with the exception of the Banger fic, which has a chance of tipping the pairing over into the "real" category

missing: Simi (would be in the "silly" category) I cannot believe I fucking fucking forgot them but I also could not be arsed to redo the 2nd graph entirely

I split the more negative category into two subcategories:

1. in romantic contexts no but as bros yes

I get it, but no - self explanatory, I can very much see the appeal but personally not interested for whatever reason

neutral/? - either just don't have feelings on it (but see it around enough that I'm not completely blank) or mixed feelings (lots of these didn't end up on this list ex: jendo and jondo. for the sake of entertainment sure but nah)

2. not my thing

NOT for me - I wouldn't say there's any pairings I "hate" per se but some just feel a bit icky (age differences + carlando lmao. I think the latter has more to do with carlos' typical portrayal in landoscar fics)

not convinced - self explanatory, just not compelled by their dynamic as I understand it (I am however, easily swayed)

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problematic-pleasures · 7 years ago

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what’s this?? chapter three!! it’s a little filler-y, but i really enjoyed what i got to develop within this chapter. i hope you all like it too! if you did, please reblog or comment @ at the ao3!! <3

When T’Challa knocks on Erik’s door the next morning, he doesn’t get an answer. He waits a few minutes and knocks again, but calls it quits when there’s still no answer. He fiddles with kimoyo beads and stays beside the door until two Dora Milaje are stationed outside it.

“He is not a prisoner,” he reminds them, waiting for their nods. “If he needs anything, assist him. Or, contact me if necessary.” He smiles at them then turns to leave. He feels a bit nervous leaving Erik alone—either because of what Erik will think, or what others will think. But T’Challa also knows that if he bothers Erik, that will only make things worse.

He puts the thoughts out of his mind and makes a beeline for their recently developed communications hub. Two more Dora greet him outside and he responds with an ‘x’ across his chest and a kind smile. The inside of the hub is bustling and busy, and it’s refreshing to see. There is a low level of chatter and the soft rumble of people hurrying about, making things happen.

“My king,” a voice greets from his left. T’Challa looks over to see Nakia grinning back at him.

“Nakia,” he answers softly. He reaches for her, and she comes to him in a hug. Formalities have never mattered much between them, aside from jokes, and T’Challa is grateful for it now. He still isn’t used to people bowing to him, reaching for his hands, all that comes with being king. He loves the people of his country, but not even his training as prince could’ve prepared him for their reactions. The familiar warmth of Nakia is comforting, and they pull apart with identical smiles. “The outreach is going well?”

“Very well.” Nakia motions for him to follow. “The attendance is steadily climbing, as are donations from companies such as the Gates Foundation and StarkTech. We have also gotten suggestions, and I have teams working through them now.”

“Suggestions?” T’Challa asks, watching the screens they pass as he trails a step behind Nakia.

“Other things we can do for the communities. People are enjoying the social branch, and Shuri’s sciences branch is incredibly popular, but they still feel more there to be done.”

“Of course. What are some of the suggestions?”

“The one we see most often is additional homeless shelters in the areas. Non-profit, of course, and ones that accept our brothers and sisters without question. Ones that accept…” Nakia sighs, then extends her wrist and presses a kimoyo bead. “Homeless shelters that accept drug addicts, alcoholics. Ones that offer classes and resources to help those people, specifically.”

From the display on the beads, a list forms with graphs beside it, and pie-charts. T’Challa observes the statistics, the number of substance-dependent people in relation to the overall population of the Oakland area. Beside it, the number of homeless people compared to both those numbers. It’s an easy decision, really.

T’Challa nods. “Very well. Are there any buildings in the area we could use for that?”

Nakia’s eyes gleam, and her smile is proud. “I already have a team researching possible locations.”

T’Challa laughs. “Of course you do. What are other suggestions?”

Nakia presses a different bead and the display changes. It’s a list of all the suggestion; some are highlighted, some have notes beside them that are everchanging as developments happen. “I have already given you access to this list. As I said, I have teams working on the ones I think are most viable. There are some that will be easy, others less so.”

T’Challa brings up the list on his own wrist and scrolls through it; it’s a sizeable list, and he can already pinpoint some ideas that are easier than others. “You’ll keep me updated as they are completed, and if you need my assistance.”

Nakia rolls her eyes affectionately. “Of course, my king.”

T’Challa scoffs and shoves at her gently. “Any other updates?”

“Nothing pressing. Everything is going quite well. The Dora are an effective deterrent from mischief, and most seem more intrigued by them than ready to antagonize them.”

“Good.” T’Challa skirts his fingers over her arm. “And you’re well?”

“I am well,” Nakia agrees. “It feels good to help my country this way, and help others.” She looks over her shoulder T’Challa with a soft smile at first, but the expression slowly fades. “How is he?”

T’Challa knew it was coming, and shrugs eloquently. Nakia snorts. “He seems fine. It is too early to tell, I think. He has a long way to go.”

Nakia hums thoughtfully.

“Come on now, don’t hold back.”

Nakia busies herself with her beads, throwing images up on screens and sending directions off to various people. She handles the chaos well, she’s in her element and it’s admirable to watch. Idly, though he knows it isn’t what would’ve worked for either of them, he wishes at times she was his queen.

“I trust you,” she tells him in a low voice. Her back is to him, and her shoulders are drawn with tension. “I do not trust him.”

T’Challa doesn’t sigh this time. He saw this coming as well. “No one does,” he points out. “A fact I am well aware of. As is he.”

“I told you not to let your father’s mistakes dictate what kind of king you would be.”

“I prefer to think that I would be the man—and therefore the king—I am regardless. I am not saying it will easy or simple, but nothing worth doing ever is.” He gestures around them. “This isn’t, hm?”

Nakia shakes her head. “I only hope you know what you’re doing.” She finally turns to face him and touches his cheek gently. “You have my support.”

He lays his hand over hers and leans into the touch. “I appreciate that, Nakia.”

She smiles at him, deceptively soft. “I will not hesitate to step in, should he cause problems.”

Nervous and touched at the same time, T’Challa huffs a quiet laugh. “I have no doubt.”

T’Challa spends the rest of the day around Wakanda; essentially, he attends to his kingly duties. He sits in on meetings, discusses matters with the other elders, makes plans for their future. There is some resistance amongst the general public against the outreach, but it’s easy enough to handle. It is a time of rebuilding and peace, and it’s stressful but not as bad as it could be, T’Challa knows.

Still, at the end of the day he is exhausted. He stops at his bedroom door first, then looks down the hall. The same Dora from earlier are still stationed, their, diligent as ever. Despite the exhaustion in his bones and the way his ever-whirring brain wants to finally rest, he walks down the hall.

“Has he come out at all?”

Shele nods. “To get food, and to walk around. He has not said much, my king.”

T’Challa nods. “He seemed okay?”

Shele shares a curious raised eyebrow with Ce’Dala, and the amused quirk of their lips dissipates in a split second. “He seemed fine, my king. He did not ask for anything more than assistance getting food. We did not follow him on his walk, as it did not seem appropriate.”

“Very good. You two are dismissed, he will be fine for the night.” He salutes them with the traditional ‘x’ over his chest, and they return the gesture. He waits until their gone to knock. “Erik?”

Still no answer, same as that morning. It stirs concern in his chest—Erik’s blithe comment about his life echoes in T’Challa’s head. He does not truly think Erik would endanger himself, but he’ll be the first to admit he doesn’t know his cousin all that well. They are still learning.

T’Challa sighs and presses his palm against the door. Knowing he’ll be heard, he murmurs, “I am down the hall if you need me.” He waits a moment, then turns back to walk to his room. He doesn’t get a response, not over the beads and not in the form of Erik turning up at his door.

He goes to bed a bit fitful, but dreams of sunsets and weddings and the future.

#t'cherik #my fic #a truth universally acknowledged fic

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dearmishu · 5 years ago

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How to Beat Your Stress, Worry, and Anxiety with the Help of Dear Mishu and Your Own Strength

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Dear Mishu was created with a vision of helping people live more like Mishu - bold, free, confident, independent, and focused on her own vision of herself and her life. (But also loving, warm, caring and connected to her loved ones). Unlike Mishu, so many people worry a lot, stress, and feel like they can’t relax. These worries can lead to anxiety, depression, and relationship and career problems. They also keep us from being our true selves. When we're stressed and worried about the future, we don't feel comfortable in our own skin. It becomes harder to form a clear vision of what we want and go boldly forward towards it. Sometimes people seem to find life to be difficult; they feel hopeless and have trouble building happiness, love, and connection.

This graph from Google trends shows that every year, more and more people are searching for information on “anxiety”

Compare that to declining searches for “happiness” -- does that mean we’re losing faith??

What can be done about this epidemic of stress and anxiety?

What we need is to find ways to de-stress, or to deal with our stress better. Before we do that, the first order of business is to determine if one needs professional help: If you are extremely anxious or depressed to the extent that it prevents you from going about your daily life, or interferes with your relationships, it is important to get professional help from a counselor, psychologist, social worker, therapist, or psychiatrist. But what if it doesn’t rise to that level, but you are just looking for a way to feel happy, to relax more and worry less? Or what if you’re getting professional help, but you want to do more or try additional outlets?

One of the cutest, furriest, and wisest is..

Dear Mishu is an Advice Columnist and social media star.

Photo of Dear Mishu Advice Columnist Dear Mishu - Advice Columnist She brings a deep and simple wisdom to everyday human problems, for example her advice on overcoming fear of failure, how to help a friend in need, and tips on why is dating so hard. Mishu’s so smart, and gives such great advice, that she’s almost a super hero! “Here she comes to save the day!” See Dear Mishu’s profile including her Powers and Origin Story Follow Mishu on Instagram or Twitter

Besides following Mishu - What Else Can You Do About Anxiety and Stress?

Mindfulness

There's a big difference between being mindful and having your mind full of everyday worry. Mindfulness: The practice of focusing your awareness on the present moment. It is a mental state in which you acknowledge and accept your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. You are aware of your emotions, but you observe them, instead of judging yourself for having them. If you feel stress or worry or hopeless, you notice that this is your feeling, and that’s it. Easier said than done, right? One way to become more mindful is by practicing meditation or mindfulness meditation. In this practice, you usually sit or lie down and try to empty your mind, focusing only on your breath, for example. And when your mind wanders -- to your exam tomorrow, to your boss, to your long distance relationship -- you just “name” the thing you’re thinking about or the emotion you’re feeling (“worry” “work” etc.), and then get back to focusing on your breathing.

Cartoon of mind or head full of worries and stress. Mindfulness can help you learn to focus on what you want rather than the things that cause you stress and anxiety. By practicing this every day, you can train yourself to be more mindful. Over time, you’ll notice that you spend less time ruminating over what makes you unhappy. You’ll literally be retraining your mind! Check Out Dear Mishu’s advice on Mindfulness! https://www.instagram.com/p/BPxpbsThoT8/ Dear Sandra, I've heard that humans can learn to be present by taking a single raisin and eating it slowly, to feel all of the sensations and everything that went into bringing that raisin to them. Personally, I would do that with a fly, not a raisin, but you get the picture. Love, Mishu Here’s the Full Raisin Meditation Practice, for greater Mindfulness : TIME REQUIRED Five minutes daily for at least a week. Evidence suggests that mindfulness increases the more you practice it. HOW TO DO IT 1. Holding: First, take a raisin and hold it in the palm of your hand or between your finger and thumb. 2. Seeing: Take time to really focus on it; gaze at the raisin with care and full attention—imagine that you’ve just dropped in from Mars and have never seen an object like this before in your life. Let your eyes explore every part of it, examining the highlights where the light shines, the darker hollows, the folds and ridges, and any asymmetries or unique features. 3. Touching: Turn the raisin over between your fingers, exploring its texture. Maybe do this with your eyes closed if that enhances your sense of touch. 4. Smelling: Hold the raisin beneath your nose. With each inhalation, take in any smell, aroma, or fragrance that may arise. As you do this, notice anything interesting that may be happening in your mouth or stomach. 5. Placing: Now slowly bring the raisin up to your lips, noticing how your hand and arm know exactly how and where to position it. Gently place the raisin in your mouth; without chewing, noticing how it gets into your mouth in the first place. Spend a few moments focusing on the sensations of having it in your mouth, exploring it with your tongue. 6. Tasting: When you are ready, prepare to chew the raisin, noticing how and where it needs to be for chewing. Then, very consciously, take one or two bites into it and notice what happens in the aftermath, experiencing any waves of taste that emanate from it as you continue chewing. Without swallowing yet, notice the bare sensations of taste and texture in your mouth and how these may change over time, moment by moment. Also pay attention to any changes in the object itself. 7. Swallowing: When you feel ready to swallow the raisin, see if you can first detect the intention to swallow as it comes up, so that even this is experienced consciously before you actually swallow the raisin. 8. Following: Finally, see if you can feel what is left of the raisin moving down into your stomach, and sense how your body as a whole is feeling after you have completed this exercise. Source: https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/raisin_meditation University of California, Berkeley Greater Good in Action - Science-based Practice for a Meaningful Life Nature Here’s Mishu on nature walks for stress, depression, and relaxation: https://www.instagram.com/p/BP5nw8rBR99 And here's Mishu's answer: Dear Sarah, I feel you, but if you take a walk outside your perspective might #change : Look at the birds, the bugs, the squirrels, the trees. The world is a busy place and we’re each a very small part of it, each of us struggling to make our way forward. Join humanity, join nature, keep #struggling. And take a nature walk every day! Love, Mishu Now here’s what the science says: According to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, people who walked in a natural area “showed decreased activity in a region of the brain associated with a key factor in depression.” And not getting outside is harmful to your health! People who live in cities have a 20% higher risk for anxiety and a 40% higher risk for mood disorders vs people in rural areas. (Source: Article on Hiking and Mental Health) Try Something New One of Mishu’s best advice for dealing with stress is to try something new. How exactly does that relate, you might ask? Well, when we’re stressed or anxious, we sometimes feel trapped. And that can make it difficult to do the things that will make us feel better. Well, according to Mishu, and a lot of experts: Trying something new is also a really great way to do-stress. How does that work?

"You Can Try Something New" written on chalkboard First of all, just making a Choice to do something different can feel really good. Whether you end up liking the thing or not, just the fact that you chose to try should lift your spirits. Second, trying new things can change your perspective -- it can show you that you like what you didn’t think you’d like, or just introduce you to a new way of being in the world. Third, sometimes trying something new entails sacrifice or hardship. But if you don’t try, you’ll miss the opportunity to discover that there might be real joy to be found. Trying something new can be easier said than done, but the joy and relaxation -- and the self confidence that you might gain from being successful at it -- can make a huge difference in your life! Check out this Video of Dear Mishu trying something new… and loving it! LOVE Another thing you can do to help yourself deal with stress is to surround yourself with people you love. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be romantic love. It could be friends, family, or both!

Spending time with people who you love can help you deal with stress Spending time with people you care about, just hanging out, cuddling with them, talking, doing something fun -- all of these things rejuvenate us, help us de-stress, and build our sense of self and our confidence. Here’s Dear Mishu’s post on Love and the Secret to Being Happy: https://www.instagram.com/p/BQBgSDGhRhv/ Dear Hemi, Life isn’t always perfect (sometimes other dogs at the dog park don’t want to play, or my humans have delicious food they won’t share), but I’m always happy. I think the secret to happiness is spending time with people you love (cuddling with my humans!), doing the things you’re passionate about (chasing squirrels!), and always #remembering to go out and have fun (sniffing around!)... Love, Mishu EVERY DAY IS A GIFT This is a hard one -- but if you can manage to work on your positive thinking, you’ll find it much easier to deal with stress, anxiety, and worry. That means waking up every day and going outside - smelling the fresh air, enjoying the sunshine, and - if possible - getting in a brisk walk in a natural setting.

Sunrise over the water Every Day is a Gift and Brings New Possibilities Most important: If you can do that, you’ll see your worry, stress, and anxiety get smaller, and your heart open up to the happiness you deserve.

Love,

Mishu

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alicecpacheco · 5 years ago

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Starting Off the New Year with the Pursuit of Perfection...

Happy New Year everyone! Over the holiday season here in the U.S. I always try to take some time off from patient care and also to step away from online duties for a bit in order to rest up and recharge the creative part of my brain for the new year ahead. Now I’m officially back and ready to hit the ground running.

Let’s start out the new year with my most recent article that appeared in my Technology Evangelist column in Dental Products Report. We are all geared for perfection, to be the best we can be and to provide the best care we can for our patients. This care extends not only to the brains & hands that deliver it, but to the products used to create our restorations. To put it bluntly, if you want to BE the best you need to USE the best. So give this article a read. Hopefully it will help you think about your current situation and possibly what you can do to improve.

If you are interested in other articles I've written over the years, you can find them at DPR's Technology Evangelist Resource Center.

As Technology Evangelist, I have worked hard over the years to bring you all as much information as I can about new devices, materials, and techniques. This year I will continue to do that, but I’ve decided to also occasionally discuss some topics I think will flat out improve our profession as well as the care we provide our patients. This month let’s take a look at one of the most common product categories in our profession and how that category impacts a concept that is beaten into us from the first day we set foot into a dental institute of higher learning. What does it mean to “focus on perfection?” I once heard the following joke and I thought it would be a great demonstration of what I’ll be discussing this month. There was a college class full of a mix of engineering students and math students. It was being taught by Bob a mathematics professor. One day a friend, Sam, who happened to be an engineering professor approached him. “Hey,” he said, “I bet I can tell which of your students are math majors and which are engineering by a simple test.” They agreed to try the experiment the next day. That day, Sam got in front of the class and asked everyone to stand up and follow him to the parking lot where he lined them up in front of a brand-new Ferrari. “We are going to do an exercise,” he stated. “This is how it will work.” First, he had all the students line up along the wall of the building facing the parking lot. Sam then instructed, “Each time I tell you, each of you can cover half the distance to the Ferrari in front of us. The first one to reach it can have it.” Immediately all of the mathematics majors turned around and walked back inside the classroom. Sam than confidently said, “Here are the engineering students.” The joke, of course, is that the math students had all quickly figured out that no matter how long they played the game, they would never reach the car because they can only get halfway there. Each time those halves grow smaller, but they never go away. However, all the engineering students remained standing because they had reasoned that even if they could never actually reach the goal, they could get close enough to accomplish what they hoped to accomplish. While this joke perhaps generalizes too much, it does speak volumes about what our goals should be. In our training, we are constantly reminded that our goal is “perfection”. I put it in quotes there because, like the mathematics students, we all know that perfection is unattainable. Given the environment that we practice in, sometimes “clinically acceptable” can be a challenge. Yet, I think those who train us focus us on perfection for a very good reason. That reason is: If you are striving for perfection and can sometimes only achieve “acceptable” what would the result be if we started out with “acceptable” as the final goal? Perfection is incredibly difficult or impossible to attain, but does that mean we should cease striving for it? As Technology Editor for Dental Products Report I get some really incredible opportunities to learn about what we do. Recently I had the opportunity to do some work with bonding agents in a laboratory setting. The exercise was to use a standardized industry-wide testing protocol to see just how strong our bonds to tooth structure truly are. One of the many great things about doing your very own experiments in the lab is that it gives you the opportunity to actually put things in context so that you actually understand them on a personal level. Often manufacturers and their sales reps will share data with us in the forms of charts & graphs. The problem for us doctors is that if we cannot translate what they show us into a form we understand they might as well be speaking a foreign language (and for me maybe more so than others). So, to start this conversation let me give you some context. One of our most common procedures is “bread & butter” operative dentistry. We all place fillings every day and the success of these restorations is very important to our patients. If our restorations fail quickly, our patients lives and health is affected negatively. That’s why aiming for perfection is so darn important! Yet I think many of us struggle to define just what we are striving for when we strive for perfection. I would argue that the best way to aim for this is to aim to put the tooth back into as close a state of physical strength as possible. Shade, anatomy, and other things are also important, but if out target cannot survive the physical and mechanical environment it exists in, then failure is a result not far over the horizon. So, my goal is for the tooth to be as strong as it was before it was weakened. To that end it would be helpful to know just how strong the tooth is in the first place. Utilizing the same fracture resistance testing used to fracture restorative materials, I fractured healthy tooth structure. It turns out that under this testing protocol, healthy teeth fracture at between 80-90mPa (megapascal). The specimens tested all fractured within that range. Given that range we now know how strong the tooth is. That piece of knowledge now equips us to understand what the “perfection” is we are aiming for. In order to put the tooth back into a state to withstand its environmental demands our goal is 80-90mPa. The frightening piece of information that I personally learned in the lab is that practically all bonding agents currently on the market are falling FAR short of that number even when being used strictly according to the manufacturers instructions as well as being performed under ideal conditions. So the logical question to be asked is if before starting a procedure a doctor knows his/her material will provide an inferior result, why should that material be used? When our mission is to “strive for perfection” why would we begin with building blocks that are not the best available to us? Interestingly enough, there were several of us working in the lab that day and we compared our results. We each followed the instructions “to a *T*”. We were careful, we were patient, and we each got similar results. The intriguing and somewhat frightening information I learned is that there are some very popular bonding agents on the market that provide very poor clinical results. Knowing that the tooth is 80-90mPa would you want a restoration in your own mouth that has a bond strength of <30mPa? Personally I would not, and there were some materials that! No matter the tester, never exceeded 30. I think the pursuit of perfection here demands that we, as doctors, ask our manufacturers for data and then make the effort to understand it as best we can. That isn’t always easy and it may sometimes require asking for help, but that’s ok. Asking is how we learn and it’s a much better way to learn than making mistakes and learning from them. I think it is also important that we demand from manufacturers that they use standardized testing protocols, not just ones that make their products appear superior. Also a focus on cost should not be the principle decision making matrix in your practice. A doctor HAS to pay the bills or they will not be able to help anyone, but a focus on costs is not the recipe for clinical success. To use bonding agents as a sample here, I’ve had colleagues say “Why should I pay $1.75 per use when I can pay $1.00?” My reply is because using inferior products leads to inferior restorations & what does it cost in hard costs & reputation to redo restorations? Clinical success leads to referrals. I’d much rather experience *that* kind of success than to save 25 cents per filling. I *love* science and I also *love* the science of dentistry. This experience has had such a profound impact on me that I am setting up a testing facility in my office so that I can become able to do all of this testing with my own hands. I feel having this unbiased information in my hands is that critical. I know most of you do not have the space or the time to do these kinds of things for yourself, but the good news is I will be gladly sharing some of this info here in the pages of Dental Products Report. That way we are not limited in the sources of our information. In closing, we all know that perfection is unattainable, however we owe it to our patients to aim for it every single day. They deserve nothing but our very best and I will do my very best to provide you with the information you need to perform at your very best for them. It’s going to be a lot of fun around here in 2020. I hope you enjoy the ride. And me? I’ve never been more excited to be your Technology Evangelist. Now let’s go places together!

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reneeacaseyfl · 5 years ago

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Extinction Rebellion’s radical philosophy – ThinkProgress

By Jeremy Deaton

New York police recently arrested 66 protestors who rallied outside The New York Times building to compel the newspaper to make climate change a front-page issue. The demonstrators belonged to Extinction Rebellion, a movement born in the United Kingdom that is committed to nonviolent resistance. In addition to protesting outside of The New York Times, U.S. members have taken to the streets against Amazon in Seattle and NBC in Los Angeles, calling on those organizations to treat the climate crisis with the seriousness it deserves.

It may seem strange that Extinction Rebellion would target The New York Times, Amazon and NBC, three companies nominally committed to dealing with climate change, as opposed to, say, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News and ExxonMobil, which have abysmal track records on the issue. And it may appear self-defeating to block traffic and mob public spaces, which might alienate potential supporters.

But organizers say that’s precisely the point.

“We have finite energy, and spending energy trying to win over the people who are absolutely not going to be won over to your side is peanuts compared to mobilizing the people who would be active or passive supporters,” said Leah Francis, an organizer with the Extinction Rebellion U.S. national team. “We really want to shift people’s perspective on what constitutes normal, socially acceptable behavior around responding to climate change.”

It aims to push governments to make the rapid, large-scale transformation needed to prevent the collapse of human civilization. This means massive, disruptive protests that render climate change too inconvenient to ignore — protests that will rouse progressives to the cause, even if they turn away centrists or conservatives.

This is, essentially, mental illness. #ExtinctionRebellion pic.twitter.com/seqlcLTVkY

— David Vance (@DVATW) July 15, 2019

Big green groups, by contrast, have devoted a lot of time and energy to winning over conservatives with the goal of making incremental progress on climate change. Environmental campaigns ask for small donations or push supporters to call their members of congress, always with the promise that change is just around the corner.

“I just want it to be clear that the mainstream environmental movement has been asking very little of people for decades. They’ve been using a strategy of not trying to scare people,” said Bea Ruiz, also an organizer with the U.S. national team. “There’s no element of, ‘We are in an emergency. We all need to do more than what we’re doing.’ There’s a lot of emphasis on positivity and hope.”

A 2018 United Nations report determined that to stave off catastrophic climate change, humans would need to cut carbon pollution roughly in half by 2030. This would demand a radical overhaul of the global energy system, a shift on a scale unprecedented in human history. By some accounts, the U.N. report was unduly optimistic, spurring Extinction Rebellion to demand countries reach net-zero carbon pollution by 2025. This aim is so ambitious as to be impractical, and politically, it’s unworkable. But organizers are committed to setting their goals based on science, not politics.

Global temperature anomalies from 1880–2017. CREDIT: NASA

“We’re trying to put out there what’s necessary, not what people think is politically possible. And then we’re trying to be part of helping to change what’s politically possible through direct action,” Ruiz said. “We are really, literally, almost out of time, and if we don’t make the reductions that are needed based on the science, we’re going to be in serious trouble. We can’t negotiate with reality.”

Extinction Rebellion is focused on mobilizing people who are already passionate about climate change, and then working to consolidate progressive support for drastic action.

“The way you win is by forcing the issue and then asking people, ‘Which side are you on?’ And we know what side the conservatives are on,” Ruiz said. “A significant portion of the country, for example, is evangelicals, who literally believe that, if climate change exists, then it’s God’s will. Civil resistance movements do not win by spending precious time and resources and energy trying to win over people like that. That’s a losing strategy.”

Ruiz said organizers were influenced by the work of Harvard University political scientist Erica Chenoweth, who found that when just 3.5% of a population publicly takes part in an opposition movement, that movement succeeds. Chenoweth’s research further showed that only nonviolent movements are able to reach this critical threshold. That’s because nonviolent movements are better able to recruit people, and some of those people will have friends and family who work for the government or news media, or who belong to security forces.

To be clear, 3.5% is nothing to sneer at. In the United States, that would mean around 11 million people marching, striking or joining sit-ins. For context, the 2017 Women’s March drew an estimated 4 million people, and it was the largest single demonstration in American history. At 11 million people, Extinction Rebellion would be too big and unwieldy for any politician to ignore.

Organizers think they will be able to reach that number.Extinction Rebellion U.K. is reportedly the largest civil disobedience movement in modern British history. And coordinators in the United States said their stark message on climate change has attracted a host of new members.

“They wanted to hear somebody sound the alarm. They’ve all told us over and over and over again that they’re so glad that finally someone is speaking about this crisis in a way that matches reality,” Ruiz said of the people joining their movement.

“Mostly what we’re dealing with are people who are just scared, and they are grieving the state of affairs that we have found ourselves in,” Francis said. “People have a lot of energy around this, and they want to be able to put it somewhere that matches the intensity of what they’re feeling.”

Extinction Rebellion protests outside The New York Times, June 20, 2019. CREDIT: Extinction Rebellion

One of those people is Art Weaver, a former scientist who now sells small-scale wind turbines in Ithaca, New York. Weaver is a new member of Extinction Rebellion, who was stirred to join the movement after learning how little time is left to slash carbon pollution. “I don’t think people are willing to accept that, listen to that, internalize that, be upset about that. They just want to be in denial,” he said. “You have got to look at it with open eyes and a clear head.”

Weaver spoke to the importance of pushing popular news outlets to routinely inform readers and viewers about the imminent threat of climate change. He recalled watching Walter Cronkite update Americans nightly about the number of casualties in the Vietnam War and seeing the graphs of the body count. “That image, day after day after day, is indelibly printed on my brain,” he said. “That sort of emergency coverage is needed [for climate change]. The news needs to lead every single day with it.”

Weaver has come to Extinction Rebellion to find what Ruiz calls the “joy of resistance.” She said that taking part in the movement can give people an outlet for their anxieties. “Extinction Rebellion is asking people to allow themselves to grieve and then turn that grief and that despair into action,” Ruiz said. “When you do that, there is a sense of liberation. There is a sense of joy.”

Lisa Fithian, another organizer with the U.S. national team, put it more bluntly. “Yes, we’re fucked. Yes, this is coming apart,” she said, “We have to reckon with the grief. We have to reckon with the anger. We have to reckon with the fear. And we have to know that deep inside we actually have power and agency, and we can make a difference.”

She added, “When it’s a fight for your life, you’re willing to throw down, especially if you are doing it in a community together.”

Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a syndicated newswire covering climate, energy, policy, art and culture. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy.

Credit: Source link

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velmaemyers88 · 5 years ago

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Extinction Rebellion’s radical philosophy – ThinkProgress

By Jeremy Deaton

But organizers say that’s precisely the point.

This is, essentially, mental illness. #ExtinctionRebellion pic.twitter.com/seqlcLTVkY

— David Vance (@DVATW) July 15, 2019

Global temperature anomalies from 1880–2017. CREDIT: NASA

Extinction Rebellion is focused on mobilizing people who are already passionate about climate change, and then working to consolidate progressive support for drastic action.

Extinction Rebellion protests outside The New York Times, June 20, 2019. CREDIT: Extinction Rebellion

She added, “When it’s a fight for your life, you’re willing to throw down, especially if you are doing it in a community together.”

Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a syndicated newswire covering climate, energy, policy, art and culture. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy.

Credit: Source link

The post Extinction Rebellion’s radical philosophy – ThinkProgress appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

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weeklyreviewer · 5 years ago

Text

Extinction Rebellion’s radical philosophy – ThinkProgress

By Jeremy Deaton

But organizers say that’s precisely the point.

This is, essentially, mental illness. #ExtinctionRebellion pic.twitter.com/seqlcLTVkY

— David Vance (@DVATW) July 15, 2019

Global temperature anomalies from 1880–2017. CREDIT: NASA

Extinction Rebellion is focused on mobilizing people who are already passionate about climate change, and then working to consolidate progressive support for drastic action.

Organizers think they will be able to reach that number. Extinction Rebellion U.K. is reportedly the largest civil disobedience movement in modern British history. And coordinators in the United States said their stark message on climate change has attracted a host of new members.

Extinction Rebellion protests outside The New York Times, June 20, 2019. CREDIT: Extinction Rebellion

She added, “When it’s a fight for your life, you’re willing to throw down, especially if you are doing it in a community together.”

Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a syndicated newswire covering climate, energy, policy, art and culture. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy.

Credit: Source link

The post Extinction Rebellion’s radical philosophy – ThinkProgress appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

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nemolian · 8 years ago

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New ideas on gravity would vanquish dark matter

Enlarge /

The bullet closer, which has been viewed as a demonstration of dark matter.

reader comments

Throughout the Universe, there are lots of signs that there's more gravity out there than there is visible matter to produce it. Over the last few decades, physicists have slowly come to the conclusion that it is not the laws of gravity that need to be changed, but rather that a massive particle is responsible for the extra gravity.

Now, it should be pointed out that this is not a whim. The distribution of dark matter describes all manner of gravitational phenomena at all scales, including some really weird things, like the Bullet Cluster. So, understandably, particle physicists and cosmologists get a bit touchy when people say that we should just modify gravity instead.

Erik Verlinde, a Dutch theoretical physicist, doesn't seem to care. The alternative title to Verlinde's talk, presented at a conference I'm attending, could be "How to piss off a room full of physicists in under 20 minutes."

Verlinde is not a crank, and his work is at the heart of a nationally recognized effort to understand the nature of gravity. He recognizes that any modification to gravity has to explain a whole range of phenomena, while also agreeing with general relativity at the right scales. That's a tall order.

Nevertheless, Verlinde thinks he is on to something.

Gravity as a consequence of quantum information

Now, before I go further, let me hasten to admit my ignorance. If I removed my brain, stomped on it, and put it back in, I would be no more ignorant of Verlinde's work than I am now. With that disclaimer in place, let's continue with caution.

His central idea is that gravity is a consequence of information. In particular, gravity is driven by entropy, and entropy is related to available configurations of quantum states and entanglement between particles. All of these ideas were derived in the context of black hole physics. The big struggle was (and still is) to understand how a black hole dealt with quantum states. Could they cross the event horizon without destroying information?

Verlinde's insight was to see that any particular point in the Universe also has a horizon, given by the distance at which the expansion of the Universe occurs at speeds faster than light's. That means that some of the same issues that apply to black holes apply anywhere in the Universe. Which means we can use some of the same tools used to examine quantum information and black holes on the Universe as a whole.

When that's done, gravity naturally emerges.

From the perspective of someone outside of this horizon, the same physics applies. The heavy lifting is to figure out how the view from outside corresponds to the internal gravity. This is exactly what Verlinde has done. The consequence, Verlinde claims, is that there is extra gravity compared to the mass. What's more, these gravitational contributions naturally occur at just the right scales to explain many phenomena that we explain with dark matter at the moment.

Verlinde's claims are even better than that. His model has no free parameters. He calculated the gravitational properties of a cluster, called the Coma Cluster, and got reasonable agreement. He has used it to calculate rotation curves for galaxies, and they appear to fit well. He extended that last analysis much further out in space than is usually done, comparing his theory to new data on the mass density of galaxies, and the agreement was still good.

One key point is that this is not modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND), which typically involves artificial terms that alter Newtonian gravity. MOND is a different attempt to get rid of the need for dark matter. It can be fit to galaxy rotation curves, but it explains nothing else, and it fails to account for complex structures like the Coma and Bullet clusters. Verlinde's work, on the other hand, is a full theoretical framework, and explains the data pretty much as well as MOND, and maybe even as well as dark matter.

As you might imagine, the people in the front seats in the audience were not impressed. Indeed, the first question turned into a five-minute rambling mini-talk about how the data and the theory didn't really fit that well.

That last claim might well be true. For the more spectacular results, Verlinde used a logarithmic scale, which is awesome for hiding the gap between theory and reality (this is why Moore's law is always plotted on a logarithmic scale). Nevertheless, Verlinde's work is an excellent development. For many years, theoreticians have worked hard on theories of gravity that make no testable predictions. And here we have a theory that is now putting lines on graphs that have actual experimental data. The agreement may or may not be acceptably good, but the fact that they are even on the same page is a great achievement.

Dark matter is still the best answer at this stage. But, until recently, it was the only viable answer at all. Now, we have a true competition of ideas, and the data can rule.

Verlinde's talk was given at Physics@FOM, Veldhoven, 2017

via:Ars Technica, January 18, 2017 at 12:36AM

#IFTTT #Feedly #Ars Technica

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dearmishu · 5 years ago

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How to Beat Your Stress, Worry, and Anxiety with the Help of Dear Mishu and Your Own Strength