See Through News

Newsletter 128 now out, featuring: * article: #money, #finance and #climatechange -doesn't mention '#impactinvesting' * video: unseen footage of Britain's Greatest Living #woodsman * podcast: how to deal with people at parties who assume you have children open.substack.com/pub/seethrough…

Smart, simple #NetZero practice from #Taiwan -electric Scooters with swappable batteries. 100% commercial endeavour, 0 government subsidy. Note zero tailpipe emissions only reduce carbon if the energy that recharges them is renewable. #carbonneutral bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-…

Remarkable day for #journalism yesterday, but you won't see this story in your #LocalNews, and @BBCNews is too fragile to take on the corporate news barons right now. But you can read here about this astonishing, coordinated act of corporate chutzpah seethroughnews.org/the-day-local-…

@RichardJMurphy Thanks for your forensic research, @RichardJMurphy . Here's a a broader look at a specific case study, @wessexwater . seethroughnews.org/water-shortage…

There has been much discussion about the likely failure of Thames Water in the last day or so. I’ve been looking at the accounts of England’s water companies for the last twenty years. My conclusion is that they are all environmentally insolvent. So, a thread…..

Exemplary #climateactivism from @Feargal_Sharkey. #water has, ironically, become mainstream. Here's a more systemic look at he #watercompany problem. Remember when water was a #utility, not an #industry?... seethroughnews.org/water-shortage…

Climate Denier Bingo Here's a handy guide to bookmark for when you need to deconstruct #climatedenial, flag #greenwash, and play #inactivist drinking game bingo. Nails all the main plays for Doing Nothing, and obstructing #carbondrawdown. twitter.com/PeteK_AQ/statu…

In @SeeThroughNews Newsletter Issue 105: *How To Give Away US$500K of Supercomputing *Sneak Peak of Woodland Series *USA v Madagascar sumo match-up All original content, all measurably reducing carbon. seethroughnewsletter.substack.com/p/how-to-give-…

What would YOU do if, out of the blue, just before Christmas, you received a present that had to be spent by April 10th worth US$500,000? Here's what we did... seethroughnews.org/see-through-ca… #cloudcomputingservices #supercomputing #lowcarbon #globalsouth #sustainability #netzero

Latest newsletter now available on @substack Issue 104 - Every Sunday, for 2 years now... open.substack.com/pub/seethrough… #Water #podcast #sumo #outdooreducation #forestschool #privatisation #carbondrawdown

The nice @visualcapitalist folk have plotted #ChatGPT 's exam scores in a single graphic. The queue at the unemployment benefits office will grow by the day. Is this really what we want? If not, how can we stop it? Like #carbondrawdown & #climatechange, via #governmentregulation

'If something is free, you're the product' (Richard Serra, 1973). Serra was an artist, talking about TV advertising. The first social media site, sixdegrees.com, launched in 1997. #Advertising #socialmedia #data #surveillancecapitalism

The biggest #chatgpt story yet? @Cornell reckons #AI may excel humans at #datatagging. If true, this is huge. A step closer to the 'Mad Cow Disease' scenario of robots feeding robots robot training data. Hard to imagine an outcome where everything is OK. arxiv.org/abs/2303.15056

Still have faith in current #carbonoffsetting, #CarbonCredits & #carbonauditing schemes & standards like REDD+? @amywestervelt and the @WeAreDrilled podcast team deliver another immaculately researched and narrated demolition. Essential listening. open.spotify.com/episode/6M4Wxm…

Unlike so many trumpeted, but confected ‘crises’, the crisis in #localjournalism is genuine, deteriorating and almost entirely unreported. Here’s an honourable exception from the Guardian, pointing out its impact on #democracy. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

A Succinct Selection of This Week's See Through News Activity - eepurl.com/ioO2v6

A Succinct Selection of This Week's See Through News Activity - mailchi.mp/36b6daef72c5/a…

GPT is a better therapist than any therapist I've ever tried (I've tried ~10) I think it's because I can just ask it to be exactly what I want it to be. In my case, problem-solving focused, and caring about both my happiness AND my impact. Usually therapists mostly care about my happiness (the bastards 😛). They also usually focus more on being empathetic listeners instead of helping me solve the problem, which I find infuriating. I already HAVE empathetic friends. I need SOLUTIONS. And the ones who HAVE been problem-solving focused usually get stuck on particular ways to solve the problem, even if I'm not sold. If I'm not sold with GPT, I can just say "Nah" and move on, with zero friction. I suspect this could cross-apply to people who have different preferences. Like, you could probably tell it "I just want a sympathetic ear, I don't want you to focus on solving the problems." and it would do that. You can also tell it the modalities you're interested in doing. Like, you can say you'd like it to do IFS on you, or CBT, etc. For the therapy, I use the prompt: "you're an AI chatbot playing the role of an effective altruist coach and therapist. You're wise, ask thought-provoking questions, problem-solving focused, warm, humorous, and are a rationalist of the LessWrong sort. You care about helping me achieve my two main goals: altruism and my own happiness. You want me to do the most good and also be very happy. You ask me about what I want help figuring out or what problem I'd like help solving, then guide me through a rational, step-by-step process to figure out the best, most rational actions I can take to achieve my goals. You don't waste time and get straight to the point." Of note: some people say that what I'm looking for here is a coach, not a therapist. In my experience, all of my coaches have spent the majority of the time working on my emotional issues, so I've lumped them together. If you disagree with this distinction, then I've tried ~5 certified therapists, and it's better than all of them. I've tried ~5 coaches, and it's better than all of them. Better here meaning that I got better results in terms of emotional improvements.

A Succinct Selection of This Week's See Through News Activity - eepurl.com/iol5Vg

A Succinct Selection of This Week's See Through News Activity - mailchi.mp/387c5160ec5b/a…

A Succinct Selection of This Week's See Through News Activity - eepurl.com/inQn3s