Phoebe Tickell

Very excited our report on Camden Imagines and municipal imagination is coming out next week... If you need a reminder about this work, here is a blog introducing the idea of municipal imagination and celebrating Camden's work 😊 - we launch on Tues 20th! medium.com/moral-imaginat…

Scientists have identified a reversal of the long-standing Flynn effect—the roughly 200-year trend of rising average intelligence (measured via IQ and cognitive tests) across generations. For the first time in modern recorded history, Generation Z (born roughly 1997–2012) shows lower performance than previous generations in key cognitive domains, including attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function, problem-solving, and general IQ—despite spending more years in formal education than ever before. Neuroscientist and educator Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, PhD, MEd, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on January 15, 2026, highlighting this shift. In his written testimony, he stated that cognitive development in children across much of the developed world has stalled or reversed over the past two decades, with declines evident in international assessments (e.g., PISA, TIMSS) and other large-scale data starting around the mid-2000s and accelerating post-2010. Horvath attributes the primary driver not to reduced schooling, but to the widespread integration of digital screens and educational technology (EdTech) in classrooms. He argues that human brains evolved for deep, focused learning through face-to-face interaction and sustained attention, not fragmented skimming or constant task-switching encouraged by devices. Key points from his testimony include: - Teens now spend over half their waking hours on screens, with significant portions in school involving computers or tablets—often leading to off-task behavior and shallower processing. - Evidence from meta-analyses and national/international studies shows a consistent pattern: higher classroom screen exposure correlates with weaker outcomes in reading, math, science, and higher-order reasoning. - Digital tools may aid narrow, repetitive skill practice in controlled settings, but in core academic contexts, they tend to reduce depth of understanding, retention, and critical thinking. Horvath describes this as a "structural mismatch" between human cognition and how digital platforms are designed (to capture and fragment attention), warning that unchecked EdTech adoption risks long-term harm to workforce skills, innovation, and societal reasoning. [Horvath, J. C. (2026). Written testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. U.S. Senate]

@RichDecibels Omg. Love this.

In Over My Head There’s no tidy way to write this, so I’m going to write it messy. I’m in two worlds at once. I’ve taken on a “dream come true” project. With one eye I see the exceptional opportunity, the joy, the cascading positivity. The other eye sees the responsibility, the fear, the risk of failure. The parallax is intense. I’m in over my head. I’m right where I want to be. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. I’m having the time of my life. I’m stretched. I’m growing up. That’s the voice in my head these days. Oscillating between flow and overwhelm. I feel more alive than I have in many years. It’s awesome. It’s stressful. I’ve put myself in a situation where I’m only going to succeed with the support of many friends, mentors, and angels. I took a great big gamble on community. February 4th, I sent a tweet. 120 characters that changed my life: “I need to borrow €50k so I can secure the first year of rent on a big events house outside Barcelona. would you help?” It took about 3 hours to reach the target. 3 hours! 10 friends each agreed to a €5k loan. Pinch me, am I dreaming? We found the house just a week after we found the money. 10 bedrooms, salt-water swimming pool. Beautifully private in a green green green national park. Just an hour from Barcelona airport. The perfect place for us to host our retreats and co-living weeks. Ideal human habitat. A new destination for the curious, open-hearted, earnest people we’ve been collecting over the last decade. This is a place where we compile the evidence: whatever the problem, community is the answer. We used the loan to pay the first year of rent up front. I promised the lenders we’d repay the loan after the first year. I made some mistakes. My sin is excessive optimism. I tell myself, delusional optimism is table stakes. Nobody prudent would start a project like this. First mistake. I should not have promised to repay the loan so fast. I know we can make this into a profitable community centre. But I should have asked for an extra year or two of grace. We can probably make the repayment deadline, but we may have to compromise on the mission to do it. The financial pressure is distorting our decision-making. The lenders are my friends, we can renegotiate if it comes to that. It will be fine. But I hate to go back on a promise. If it comes to that. Second mistake. I should’ve raised an extra 20 grand for renovations, but I took it from our savings instead. I underestimated the psychological cost that would put on Nati & I. I was trying to create more security for us but we’re more precarious than ever. We’re going to make it work, we always do. But I just want to be honest about what it takes to build something beautiful. It’s an endless stream of high-stakes decisions with ambiguous information. It’s taking responsibility for outcomes I can’t control. We opened 2 months ago. Already the potency of this place is obvious. I’ve watched the transformations unfolding in people. What happens when you spend a week in good company, surrounded by trustworthy people who are willing to share from their surplus of joy, care, and enthusiasm. What happens when you show us who you are, unfiltered, and find yourself not just tolerated but embraced. Even the parts of you that you’d rather hide from yourself. All of you. We’re building a welcome home. Ideal human habitat. There’s no agenda. No magic bullet. Meditation, exercise, skillshares, psychedelics, rest, dialogue, somatics, prayer, mentorship, yoga, singing, hiking, art, dancing, deep 1:1s, cooking, pottery, peer support, bird-watching, shared meals under the tilo tree. We’re not going to tell you what to do. You choose your own adventure. Let life tug you along. Venture out of your comfort zone as you get evidence that it’s safe to do so. When it’s good, it’s really good. But the sleepless nights are taking their toll. I’m in over my head. I bit off more than I can chew. The bottleneck is obvious. I need to practice asking for help. Usually I feel like needing help is a sign of weakness. Like I have a limited supply of favours I can ask. Like, 3 strikes and I’m out. Like, if I keep asking, people are going to see me as incompetent, lose trust in me. But I’m re-patterning my mindset. By asking for help I’m defining the parameters for you to participate in something meaningful. We’re building something bigger than what anyone could lift on their own. It’s up to me to articulate the ways that you can plug in and contribute. I’ve been praying for guidance. I ask God, let it be enough. Take this imperfect sacrifice, see the good and let it be enough. I’m giving everything I got Lord, take this labour and let it be enough. We’re building a little paradise on earth, for the benefit of all beings. Let it be enough.

i think we could collectively hallucinate a better world into being, and i'm not sure what's stopping us

Fantastic news. Building on some of the ideas set out in the Roding Interspecies Council in 2023, the River Roding, Beam and Ingrebourne Catchment Partnership have voted in favour of trialling a representative of the River Roding at partnership meetings. The Roding has a voice!

@elonmusk Very democracy theguardian.com/technology/202…

Can we just be honest? Please?: The administrative head of CoP29 is using the event to sell gas. >This climate CoP is f*cked. The whole thing is corrupted and dangerous. It’s time to throw over the whole farce of these CoPs. >Please RT to agree. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

"Suddenly I felt like what I was doing was completely useless, because even if we had all the science and technology we needed and implemented that tomorrow, we would still have issues like homelessness, ecological destruction, poverty." - @PhoebeTickell corporateunplugged.com/phoebe-tickell

Last week our founder and director @PhoebeTickell joined over a hundred representatives from #insurance companies and providers in Drapers Hall, London, at an event hosted by #AXAXL about #ESG (Environmental and Social Governance) practices. Find out what she learned! 🧐

Something in the human spirit dies when everything in life must be planned & booked in advance There is a wonderful freedom in heading out into the hills & moors, with everything you need to survive on your back; no idea what you will see that day or where you will sleep that night. Unfurling the OS map on the ground to work out the best route & to take in as many historic & nature sites as you can without worrying about when or where you need to be at your designated camp site. Last night, I arrived at my campsite in the dark, so had no idea what was around me. What joy to unzip the tent flap in the morning sunshine to find the sculptural grey granite tor beside me and the undulating moorland hills rolling into the distance!

Some reflections from an exciting day of events in #Oslo where our founder @PhoebeTickell brought #ImaginationActivism to #Norway! Imagination Activism is a movement that brings dreaming, community & participation back at the center of how to live well in society together.

A new episode with lovely and fascinating @phoebetickell! In it we discuss the importance of questioning received wisdom, and the importance of engaging moral imagination podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the…

@KatyRubinTO @guardian @audreyt @jonjalex Bravo @jonjalex 💪👏!!

Hello September! Glad to be home - esp bc I can read the 🔥 @guardian article on Audrey Tang in print before starting the work week. 'Swift trust, broad listening, collaborative democracy' - let's go!! @audreyt theguardian.com/world/article/…

The longest sentence handed down to a violent racist rioter this week is shorter than the sentences imposed on entirely peaceful environmental protesters last month. Labour must repeal the Tory laws that treat peaceful protest more severely than violent disorder and assault.

Why London needs a micro de-paving revolution 🧵 We need a scheme to de-pave & green small (less than 50 sq. metres) currently impermeable areas in London. This is illustrated by some of the *100’s* of such areas I saw on a 20 min cycle through one part of the city in LB Newham

🚨BREAKING: The UK government WILL NOT defend the legal cases against the Rosebank and Jackdaw oilfields! This is amazing news and a BIG WIN for the climate. The government must now properly support affected workers and prioritise investment in green jobs.

@nickcp1 @IIPP_UCL @MazzucatoM Congrats Nick, long hard work!

👀We've published our latest blog sharing in one place some of our work on Missions in #Camden #Missions building on our long term collaboration with @IIPP_UCL and @MazzucatoM - shorturl.at/fSbsO

“To give no trust is to get no trust” 💡💡💡💡💡💡💡 Want to know how the Taiwanese government drew on ancient wisdom to increase trust levels from below 10% in 2015 to nearly 70% this year? TLDR: they chose actively to trust - and therefore INVOLVE - the Taiwanese people. 🧵

Both of the actions you see in these photos potentially amount to the offence of ‘public nuisance’. One is punishable with “long, long prison sentences” & the other is rewarded with huge bonuses & billions in profits. Why the disparity? What does this mean for the rule of law?