Love this article. Thank you Zion! Balance is important with everything in life, especially news.
Two things I’ve heard over the years have helped me;
1. I’ve experienced some horrible things in my life, some of which actually came true.
2. Worrying is like a rocking horse, it gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.
I try to remember these two pieces of wisdom. I also try to read some good news every day. I like the Good News Network. When you sign up they send you a daily email with great heartwarming stories, environmental successes, tech advances etc..... I read this every morning to start my day. It balances the bad news I consume which is important because I’m naturally anxious. I love reading Good News Network and all the Substack articles. I prioritize reading these and my mental state is so improved now!!
I hope some of what I have shared is helpful. Have a great day, my friends!
Mar 21, 2023·edited Mar 21, 2023Liked by Zion Lights
One forward thinking teacher in my high school 50 years ago offered an elective course covering mass media. Ostensibly he convinced the school board that students planning journalism careers would benefit.
I credit this teacher for giving me the power at an early age to recognize the persuasive techniqes of mass media, including product placement, appeals to ego and numerous other emotional baits still in use today.
There are two primary tools in the media toolbox. One is fear of inadequacy and the other is plain old fear of violence.
Sitcoms have perfect people who always have a snappy answer to each line of dialog. Life is not scripted and we are made to feel inadequately armed with the right lines. We feel clumsy. But those folks on the screen have the right kitchen appliances, clothing, and mouthwash, so perhaps if I imitate them I will regain my sense of adequacy.
Tool two is fear of violence, and this is why the average television drama artist has more gun proficiency than most people. They have us outgunned, but there is a place where we can go and feel safe. Disneyland is now owned by ABC. There, and only there you can feel safe.
If you cannot afford the best products, guns or trips to Disneyland, there are plenty of pharmaceutical products you can rely upon, So for those immune to product placement there are the actual commercial breaks which can be taken literally and don't require subliminal messages.
Therapists use hypnosis videos as part of their treatment. Repeated viewing is most effective. So am I to believe that television stations knowing of this tool would not use it? How else can people today be oblivious to ballots being dragged from beneath tables after election workers are sent home. People I know and trust have this blind spot which I can only attribute to the power of suggestion applied repetitively on a daily basis. I have no other answer for this.
If all this seems a downer and unrelated to your essay, let me say that I see on a daily basis the miraculous wonder of nature which at its essence can only be described as benevolent. We are all on a tiny speck of dust in an infinite universe at a time 20,000 years after the last major glacial advance began to recede. Our entire civilization has developed during this period of warming. We had fire but not the wheel. We lived as beasts and only ventured out of Africa toward the end of that 200,000 year long glacial period. Warmer and wetter is better than cold and dry, and the abundance of life today is clear evidence of this.
We are living in the luckiest period man has ever known. I am grateful and cannot comprehend why some people insist in being panic stricken. I have been unable to sway a single one of them, and so I will save my energy and the few years of life remaining for those who do appreciate how good we have it.
You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. So I'll not let their share go to waste. I'm drinking it too.
It’s so important for people to understand truth and reality. Yes we need rhetoric and stories to understand big pictures and nuanced issues but the work of scientists, engineers, business and government policy is not a given. These thing comes from a long hard push and hard work.
In the global scale the frameworks like www.globalgoals.org and each goal, target and indicator is important.
However regardless of it being about the SDG’s or climate change the progress made before any of these entered the zeitgeist came from people at every level who had Vision, energy, hope and a desire to work to achieve wider goals. Let’s not lose that.
Science, evidence and critical thinking is every bit as important than any noisy attention Seeking campaigner.
Your writing and other work is a great help in that push. Thanks and well done.
Scrolling through the substacks in my mail inbox this stood out. I'd assumed that many had sensible views about climate risk as important but also not something to scare oneself about on a daily basis. I hadn't understood the result of the constant negativity on people's emotions and how it can lead to radicalisation for some. This gives valuable insight.
Also there is a tendancy as one ages to increased negativity about the present and nostalgia for the past. Positivity and optimism for the future is lacking both in the traditional and social media although it is present in 50s and 60s science fiction. It's also surprising that most asked in opinion polls "are people getting richer" answer wrongly in the negative. A thought provoking piece. Thank you.
Poor sleep may be attributed to caffeine. These drinks have become very popular with young folks.
Nicotine is also being distributed via vape canisters which are just as addictive as cigarettes. Vape canisters burn exotic chemicals which may be as unsafe as, or worse than natural tobacco. The damage will not turn up for a couple more decades.
Drugs are every bit as prevalent today as in the sixties. I used them occasionally, but always preferred lucidity to stupor. I don't like cold medication much less stronger clouds on my mental state. Clarity is rare even when sober, but it is better than any drug experience.
People just need to read Hans Rosling Factfulness to know Zion is right as is Hanna Richie with the article “the end of doomerism” can’t wait for her new book out soon.
We're very sorry that neo-environmentalism did that to you. We've seen that happening for 20 odd years.
If you want the simple answer how they did that to you and others, it's in our post from Saturday.
Early climate models. We understood from the beginning that the very worst UN IPCC emissions scenarios were built on a foundation of sand. The birth rates and future population estimates were static in the models for all the original scenarios, using a population of 11 billion by 2100. They were laughable low-resolution compared to rapidly changing birth rates at high resolution country levels.t
This is how you could see how the terror, existential crisis scenarios were very unlikely.
Now, they are laughable. Fortunately, in EPA's latest "Social Cost of Carbon" mardi gras the old (notorious RCP8.5) 1991 business as usual scare scenario survived for comparison. We showed it in a graph in our piece. And we explained what it means.
Love this article. Thank you Zion! Balance is important with everything in life, especially news.
Two things I’ve heard over the years have helped me;
1. I’ve experienced some horrible things in my life, some of which actually came true.
2. Worrying is like a rocking horse, it gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.
I try to remember these two pieces of wisdom. I also try to read some good news every day. I like the Good News Network. When you sign up they send you a daily email with great heartwarming stories, environmental successes, tech advances etc..... I read this every morning to start my day. It balances the bad news I consume which is important because I’m naturally anxious. I love reading Good News Network and all the Substack articles. I prioritize reading these and my mental state is so improved now!!
I hope some of what I have shared is helpful. Have a great day, my friends!
John
(Standing to applaud.)
Thank you for this - the good news of our day needs to be repeated loudly and often for the world to hear.
The positivity we need every now and then.
It reminds me a bit of factfullness.
"Acknowledging that things are getting better does not have to mean that there is no more work to be done."
One forward thinking teacher in my high school 50 years ago offered an elective course covering mass media. Ostensibly he convinced the school board that students planning journalism careers would benefit.
I credit this teacher for giving me the power at an early age to recognize the persuasive techniqes of mass media, including product placement, appeals to ego and numerous other emotional baits still in use today.
There are two primary tools in the media toolbox. One is fear of inadequacy and the other is plain old fear of violence.
Sitcoms have perfect people who always have a snappy answer to each line of dialog. Life is not scripted and we are made to feel inadequately armed with the right lines. We feel clumsy. But those folks on the screen have the right kitchen appliances, clothing, and mouthwash, so perhaps if I imitate them I will regain my sense of adequacy.
Tool two is fear of violence, and this is why the average television drama artist has more gun proficiency than most people. They have us outgunned, but there is a place where we can go and feel safe. Disneyland is now owned by ABC. There, and only there you can feel safe.
If you cannot afford the best products, guns or trips to Disneyland, there are plenty of pharmaceutical products you can rely upon, So for those immune to product placement there are the actual commercial breaks which can be taken literally and don't require subliminal messages.
Therapists use hypnosis videos as part of their treatment. Repeated viewing is most effective. So am I to believe that television stations knowing of this tool would not use it? How else can people today be oblivious to ballots being dragged from beneath tables after election workers are sent home. People I know and trust have this blind spot which I can only attribute to the power of suggestion applied repetitively on a daily basis. I have no other answer for this.
If all this seems a downer and unrelated to your essay, let me say that I see on a daily basis the miraculous wonder of nature which at its essence can only be described as benevolent. We are all on a tiny speck of dust in an infinite universe at a time 20,000 years after the last major glacial advance began to recede. Our entire civilization has developed during this period of warming. We had fire but not the wheel. We lived as beasts and only ventured out of Africa toward the end of that 200,000 year long glacial period. Warmer and wetter is better than cold and dry, and the abundance of life today is clear evidence of this.
We are living in the luckiest period man has ever known. I am grateful and cannot comprehend why some people insist in being panic stricken. I have been unable to sway a single one of them, and so I will save my energy and the few years of life remaining for those who do appreciate how good we have it.
You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. So I'll not let their share go to waste. I'm drinking it too.
It’s so important for people to understand truth and reality. Yes we need rhetoric and stories to understand big pictures and nuanced issues but the work of scientists, engineers, business and government policy is not a given. These thing comes from a long hard push and hard work.
In the global scale the frameworks like www.global goals.org and each goal, target and indicator is important.
However regardless of it being about the SDG’s or climate change the progress made before any of these entered the zeitgeist came from people at every level who had Vision, energy, hope and a desire to work to achieve wider goals. Let’s not lose that.
Science, evidence and critical thinking is every bit as important than any noisy attention Seeking campaigner.
Your writing and other work is a great help in that push. Thanks and well done.
Scrolling through the substacks in my mail inbox this stood out. I'd assumed that many had sensible views about climate risk as important but also not something to scare oneself about on a daily basis. I hadn't understood the result of the constant negativity on people's emotions and how it can lead to radicalisation for some. This gives valuable insight.
Also there is a tendancy as one ages to increased negativity about the present and nostalgia for the past. Positivity and optimism for the future is lacking both in the traditional and social media although it is present in 50s and 60s science fiction. It's also surprising that most asked in opinion polls "are people getting richer" answer wrongly in the negative. A thought provoking piece. Thank you.
Poor sleep may be attributed to caffeine. These drinks have become very popular with young folks.
Nicotine is also being distributed via vape canisters which are just as addictive as cigarettes. Vape canisters burn exotic chemicals which may be as unsafe as, or worse than natural tobacco. The damage will not turn up for a couple more decades.
Drugs are every bit as prevalent today as in the sixties. I used them occasionally, but always preferred lucidity to stupor. I don't like cold medication much less stronger clouds on my mental state. Clarity is rare even when sober, but it is better than any drug experience.
People just need to read Hans Rosling Factfulness to know Zion is right as is Hanna Richie with the article “the end of doomerism” can’t wait for her new book out soon.
We're very sorry that neo-environmentalism did that to you. We've seen that happening for 20 odd years.
If you want the simple answer how they did that to you and others, it's in our post from Saturday.
Early climate models. We understood from the beginning that the very worst UN IPCC emissions scenarios were built on a foundation of sand. The birth rates and future population estimates were static in the models for all the original scenarios, using a population of 11 billion by 2100. They were laughable low-resolution compared to rapidly changing birth rates at high resolution country levels.t
This is how you could see how the terror, existential crisis scenarios were very unlikely.
Now, they are laughable. Fortunately, in EPA's latest "Social Cost of Carbon" mardi gras the old (notorious RCP8.5) 1991 business as usual scare scenario survived for comparison. We showed it in a graph in our piece. And we explained what it means.
https://envmental.substack.com/p/the-population-bombing