3 ms·

I was thinking yesterday how different it would be if we hadn’t invented the Internet 40 something years ago and had to tackle climate change with the preexisti

I was thinking yesterday how different it would be if we hadn’t invented the Internet 40 something years ago and had to tackle climate change with the preexisting forms of communication.... i think it would be much harder to rally people behind the issue

r00fus 7y ago
I'm not so sure. The establishment was slow to grasp the true power the Internet provides them, but it's quite sure that the Internet is a tool and it's just as useful to the authoritarians and establishment as it is to grass roots organizations. Point in fact: troll farms, fake news (both fake articles as well as the proclamation by politicians that anything against them is "fake news"), Facebook/Cambridge Analytica leak by design. Especially without any way to validate trustworthiness of actors, the Internet is simply another medium that is polluted by monied interests.
nosianu 7y ago
Or it might be easier because the opposition - which is quite strong if you look at places all over the world (e.g. who won elections in Brasil or the US, and in my native Germany the new right-wing is far stronger than ever and not exactly a fan of climate change action - would have it harder to organize too. In the past the leaders could get things done more easily - possibly, not quite sure. Of course that's a two-edged sword. I do believe that if we get through getting used to the new communication methods we will come out much better on the other side, but occasionally not having to listen to the crowd can be advantageous.
yyyk 7y ago
Historically, there was some effective climate action in the pre-internet era which led to the Montreal Protocol[0], a climate achievement which the post-internet era has yet not matched. [0] https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/montreal-protocol-ozone-treaty-30-climate-change-hcfs-hfcs/ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/montreal-protoco...

r00fus 7y ago

I'm not so sure. The establishment was slow to grasp the true power the Internet provides them, but it's quite sure that the Internet is a tool and it's just as useful to the authoritarians and establishment as it is to grass roots organizations. Point in fact: troll farms, fake news (both fake articles as well as the proclamation by politicians that anything against them is "fake news"), Facebook/Cambridge Analytica leak by design. Especially without any way to validate trustworthiness of actors, the Internet is simply another medium that is polluted by monied interests.

nosianu 7y ago

Or it might be easier because the opposition - which is quite strong if you look at places all over the world (e.g. who won elections in Brasil or the US, and in my native Germany the new right-wing is far stronger than ever and not exactly a fan of climate change action - would have it harder to organize too. In the past the leaders could get things done more easily - possibly, not quite sure. Of course that's a two-edged sword. I do believe that if we get through getting used to the new communication methods we will come out much better on the other side, but occasionally not having to listen to the crowd can be advantageous.

yyyk 7y ago

Historically, there was some effective climate action in the pre-internet era which led to the Montreal Protocol[0], a climate achievement which the post-internet era has yet not matched. [0] https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/montreal-protocol-ozone-treaty-30-climate-change-hcfs-hfcs/ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/montreal-protoco...