@alxd@writing.exchange
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

alxd

@alxd@writing.exchange

Programmer, hacker, #solarpunk, educator, activist and a wannabe writer fascinated by how technology is portrayed in culture - and how that affects human lives.

Co-author of https://podcast.tomasino.org/@SolarpunkPrompts #podcast , exploring realistic stories of our climate future with all their traumas and hopes.

Languages: 🇦🇺 🇵🇱

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alxd, to solarpunk
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

I find https://www.okdoomer.io/youre-not-going-to-make-it/ to be a nice little essay for all those people who think they can just leave the society during a and live nicely.

It states again and again: you're not going to make it on your own.

We either build resilience together, as a society and communities, or we won't make it.

Let's not romanticize off-grid, homesteading and bunkers.

One more good line:

"The best kind of prepping is emotional."

teknomagic, to solarpunk
@teknomagic@retro.pizza avatar

community: please stop using AIs to generate images. Yes, I know there's very few solarpunk visual concepts. Generative AIs are predatory, anti-worker software and on top of that its energy and water consumption is huge (specially since it's a non essential service). Commission an artist, use stock images. Don't make me go fight you.

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

@teknomagic maybe we could make a list of Solarpunk artists who are willing to take commissions?

@jacobcoffin
@Enora
Commando Jugendstil
Lemonaut

alxd, to solarpunk
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

In the recently resurfaced debate about (or lunarpunk) aspects of and 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 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.

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

Many web3 and DAO advocates will call for a debate, saying that you cannot just dismiss their solutions like a religious zealot. Then they start looking for an edge: are you non-technical enough to be convinced that >this< technology is so far outside of your understanding to solve all of your problems? Are you optimistic enough to be sold on the idea of an Objective Machine which will solve human imperfections?

Then they will use those lines, like good salesmen, completely ignoring your needs.

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

In my definition of in I do call it the "crystallized community", as a sum of all the decisions, tradition, culture, because the tools arise from the needs and the conscious choice, not the other way around.

Blockchain and DAOs are an anti-thesis of Solarpunk not just because of their carbon footprint, but because they bundle everything together and make choices for you, pretending there was never a choice in how your community could operate.

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

Every time I encountered someone pitching a DAO or a Blockchain to an organization, they specifically bundled several things together to make them indistinguishable - the culture with the technology, the way a community is organized with the tools they use. With that, there fewer footholds for any kind of question, insight into what is really happening.

This is what I mean by saying that the technology is transparent and it's not always a good thing, because it makes us unable to discuss it.

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

There's a reason why paper ballots are considered safer than electronic elections: they can be audited, counted by people without extremely specialized skills. You can train someone to count votes in a few days instead of a few years of intense P2P cybersecurity courses, software and hardware expertise.

What Blockchain and DAOs offer you is offloading the responsibility for your processes to a third party, making you forget that you're giving them enough power to become absolute rulers.

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

Moreover, Blockchains, with their tokens, enforce financialization of your communities, where the way ledger is implemented does not correspond with any kind of gift economy, with communalism, but with the harshest capitalist market traditions. Whoever has the [money/tokens/votes], rules.

We spent thousands of years working on different law systems, putting transparency, equality before the law at their core, and Blockchain wants to replace them with a web3 engineer being a priest/judge.

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

If I could ask the 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.

The exact anti-thesis of Solarpunk.

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

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.

alxd, to solarpunk
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

I feel like starting a discussion -

What would be the role of s in a Solarpunk future?

Let's be realistic, we don't want a priest caste worshipping the blockchain.

How to avoid the position of the "elite" or a "guild" hoarding power?

reverse engineers giving second lives to old machines?

specialists of technology we want to keep around?

ers of not only technology, but ways to integrate it in our lives?

Share your ideas!

alxd, (edited ) to solarpunk
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

A few days ago an old question surfaced on the reddit:

"What makes the Solarpunk movement ?"

Since I wrote a few essays trying to respond to this question, let me answer it in a series of toots:

Okay, but where is the -punk- in all that? It was supposed to be SolarPUNK, not a sunny everyone-get-along-now! Where’s throwing molotov cocktails at hypercorps, where are the mohawks and being the underdogs? What’s punk in starting a garden?

alxd, to sustainability
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

My 3 USB-C port has broken just two weeks after the warranty period ended. Thanks to the forums I was able to quickly diagnose what's wrong and locate the part I need to replace, with just a screwdriver, yay!

Sadly, the part - bottom module - is sold out all over Europe. No word on when it'll be back in stock.

Fairphone seems to be prioritizing their new wireless headphones over ability and of their phones :<

alxd, to solarpunk
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When writing my #solarpunk essay to the Polish ZNAK magazine I was asked to write a section outlining the differences between the movement and #longtermism (together with #effectiveAltruism, #transhumanism and more).

I think it's important to understand what #TESCREAL (a term coined by Timnit Gebru) is and how it might be one of the dominating narratives on our future in the coming years.

A good intro could be https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-acronym-behind-our-wildest-ai-dreams-and-nightmares/ , although I'm sure there are a lot more articles.

alxd, to solarpunk
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

A thought for / :

If you want to tell stories of a world where violence isn't a default conflict resolution option, don't reward it.

Don't make extra mechanics for combat, use the same kind of conflict resolution as for political debates or fighting forest fires.

If someone chooses violence, they could feel empty, feeling that they failed to find another way.

does this well: no XP for combat, only for quests, exploration and bonds.

alxd, to rust
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

This time a post:

I've just wrapped up a bigger contract as a software developer and before I start a new one, I want to properly learn . I've been putting this off for about two years, and I feel that as a fullstack with just and I'm missing a more performant (and safe) language.

I'm learning with The Rust Book, Rust in Action and Rustlings.

Any tips, any projects worth contributing to after I'm done with the basics?

alxd, to climate
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

protests aren't enough in getting the attention of the general public, because without a vision of an alternative, sustainable future people quickly move on.

's function is to create imaginable tomorrows to which the climate protests can point to - and which are able to sustain people's attention.

It's not about painting a perfect utopia, but a path where our actions matter, to fight the defeatism.

alxd, to solarpunk
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

Looks like there's a new on the block: https://www.sdrgames.studio/pages/why-we-fight by the creators of the "Earth Rising" board game.

"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 (...)"

alxd, to solarpunk
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

I'm proud to present my of 's : https://alxd.org/ministry-for-the-future-review.html#ministry-for-the-future-review

Be warned, it's a !

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 , but I hoped that it will paint a future to look forward to.

alxd, to writing
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

mastodon, could you recommend any good resources on organizing a , especially in context of optimal text length / jury size / time?

I was asked for advice on organizing a contest in focusing on and its communal / societal impact.

alxd, to solarpunk Polish
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

[PL]

Nagranie mojego dwugodzinnego owego Q&A dla Koła Naukowego Socjologii Cyfrowej jest już dostępne tak na YouTube, jak i PeerTube!

https://alxd.org/solarpunkowe-qna-dla-knsc-pl.html#solarpunkowe-qna-dla-knsc

Rozmawiamy między innymi o tym:

❓ Czy nazwa "Solarpunk" jest w ogóle ważna?❓ Czy opowieści o innej przyszłości mogą pomóc protestującym rolnikom?
❓ Dlaczego tak ciężko znaleźć - lub wydać - solarpunkowe opowiadanie?
❓ Czy telenowela może być dobrą formą opowieści o lepszym jutrze?

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

Z góry zaznaczam, że wersja na PeerTube ma lepszy dźwięk - https://tube.pol.social/w/uBHj6k3e2DDCNGBCkYG6fT

alxd, to random Polish
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

[PL]

Jest już nagranie mojego wystąpienia o Solarpunku na Kole Naukowym Socjologii Cyfrowej UW: dużo Q&A, więcej niż na normalnych wykładach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Bh0bMg_cg

Oficjalnie wrzucę z tagami - i na bloga - jak będzie też na PeerTube!

alxd, to solarpunk Polish
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

[PL]

Dziś rano miałem przyjemność wystąpić u @mr_zvbr na GilotynaTV: https://youtu.be/hrH6hh51f4k?t=4161 (od tego konkretnego momentu).

Opowiadałem o u po polsku i w kontekście polskim, jako , i odmienny sposób patrzenia na świat, czym różni się od a i czy nie jest aż nazbyt optymistyczny.

alxd, to Engineering
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

https://hackaday.com/2017/08/03/avoiding-the-engineer-saviour-trap/

A really good article on , and , 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 .

If you're interested in engineering organizations working directly with the , I can recommend https://www.careables.org/

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