#writing mastodon, could you recommend any good resources on organizing a #shortStory#contest, especially in context of optimal text length / jury size / time?
In the recently resurfaced debate about #solarpunk (or lunarpunk) aspects of #web3 and #blockchain I'm intrigued by one aspect:
Why do we accept being given a solution without outlining the problem in the first place?
Why don't we listen to #DAO pitches instead of asking ourselves how we want to run our communities, how do we want to make decisions, vote, discuss things?
Just stating the problem first would make it very clear that there are multiple technical solutions, not just the Web3.
And for every. single. argument. for Blockchains, DAOs, Web3, there is another open source tool that does the same thing, but better, less energy-intensely, with more fine-tuning for your own needs.
You can dive into IPFS, DAT, Scuttlebutt, Git and GitTorrent, dozens and dozens protocols which can solve your problems.
But none of them come in a sleek, well-marketed package of "solving all of your problems" only a scammer can offer you.
If I could ask the #solarpunk community for one thing regarding the web3, blockchains and DAOs, it will be:
Do not treat them like a technology you just dont understand.
Treat them like a way of thinking which dismisses your and your organization's needs and gives you a sleek solution, asking not to ask too many questions.
Because that's what web3 is: the culture of techno-solutionism, of abandoning hard questions about humanity and community organization.
Is there anything you could recommend for him to see, any place to visit, people to meet? Do you know anyone from #freifunk who could show him how the network works?
He might not be into software or hardware enough to appreciate cBase, he is more interested in city scale transport systems, urban planning and so on.
"Why We Fight is a solo+ narrative TTRPG where you play a crew of eco-punks fighting fascism to build a brighter, greener future."
"(...) help struggling refugees and the havens they’ve made, and build a thriving, self-sustaining solar-punk community, all while pushing back against a force that seeks to blame the powerless (...)"
I was approached by a local theater working on its #sustainability / future-thinking course for the youth (15-23 or so).
They would like me to design a narrative card game which could help the kids imagine a better, sustainable future, making them feel agency over their lives.
It needs to be easy to learn, use and have lesson plans.
I'm currently thinking along the lines of "For the Queen", "The Story Engine", "The Quiet Year", "Dialect"...
@alxd I would like to tag in @armadajosh, because I know that's close to his interests, and he's made worldbuilding games like Polis, that takes inspiration from @benrobbins's #MicroscopeRPG and builds a city, complete with its story.
@alxd@armadajosh@benrobbins This sounds great, I'm curious to hear what you will build. Let me know if you'd like more material or a bit of conversation/playstorming/testing at any point.
Edit: If you haven't seen In This World, you should definitely give it a look. For my money, it's the most world for the least effort I know of. https://www.lamemage.com/inthisworld/
Mateusz Wyszyński z Mataj Fiction, laureat ostatniej edycji konkursu Polskiej Fundacji Fantastyki Naukowej, właśnie opublikował wideo o pisaniu #solarpunk i konflikcie dramatycznym w nim:
From what I read, it doesn't teach you #solarpunk or #degrowth mindsets, it merely adds some pollution tokens, it doesn't reward players for cooperation.
Instead it implements some questionable #gameDesign allowing - and promoting - a win condition of betraying any climate alliances at the last moment to get the most points - essentially a prisoner's dilemma.
I understand that the game is trying to mimic our world and show people "hey, not everybody will work together", but as you set victory conditions, you need to ask yourself what kind of emergent behaviors do you want to promote within the game.
Because sure, "best economy wins" and "you can totally betray others" is one way, but does your game teach sustainability, or use it as an aesthetic?
I have not played this Catan, I know only what's in the reviews.
Sometimes there is value in #gameDesign which doesn't try to copy neoliberal economical values, but instead challenges players to go for a different goal, like cooperating. Co-op games do not need to be boring!
I feel as if a lot of people forgot that the #monopoly was initially designed as a caricature of capitalism, not as a family-friendly game of bankrupting everyone else.
It outlines how a lot of the American "Golden Age" sci-fi limits our imagination by focusing on scientism and capitalism.
It then criticizes early Solarpunk (as visualized by the Chobani ad), showcasing how a movement focused on aesthetic only can be easily hijacked by capitalism and used for greenwashing (as we were recently reminded by Figma's CEO).
"We need all sorts of stories, but we have a special need for hopepunk right now, because, (...) this is one of those false-utopias which seemed great but has had its unforgivable underbelly exposed —climate impact, structural inequality, global inequity, systemic racism, dystopian tech.We need better models for what to do now than just blowing up the overlord’s tower, since that doesn’t fix it."
A really good article on #engineering , #hacking and #accessibility , reminding us not to pretend that we know the problem better than the people who experience it. We need to listen to them without preconceptions.
I think it is a very important foundation of #solarpunk .
After three long years of struggling with the book and analyzing it I finally put my thoughts into a coherent blogpost. I never expected the Ministry to be #solarpunk , but I hoped that it will paint a future to look forward to.
@alxd hmm... I will have to disagree here nothing magical about digital currencies. And one of the central banks depicted in Ministry has the rollout of a digital form of cash on schedule right now. But I'll still take you up on coffee! :-) @adamgreenfield
In #cyberpunk , tech is an allegory for either oppression or rebellion, there's nothing outside the dichotomy.
In #superhero stories, tech is always a weapon and any other use is invisible.
In #solarpunk then, tech could be a "crystallized community", with the sum of its values, cultures and decisions codified into the #infrastructure they create.
When I was reading #theMinistryForTheFuture I didn't actually register that the AI team of the Ministry proposed to create a new religion to support its shadow government.
It took away people's agency over their spirituality for purely political gain.
How is that different from the #Dune 's Bene Gesserit?
It's not. And of course with their costume of black habits, they represent the Catholic church throughout history, which even now via opus dei etc is engaged in a judicial and legislative takeover of the United States. It's actually grimly amusing to watch evangelicals help them. They don't seem to grok that the only thing right wing catholicism hates more than women is...protestants. Evangelicals seem confused about whose religion is being legislated. Hint: not theirs.