CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
For me -
that some people really don’t like having privilege challenged - BLM, unfettered driving etc. (Not pretending I’m aware of all my privileges.)
that ‘nature’ is more relevant/important than we already (should have) realised - Covid, carbon capture etc.
that (too many) politicians are more inept/selfserving than I had given them credit for!
Another year where I've been reminded not to take things for granted.
Seem to have been quite a few years like that recently...
That a sizeable proportion of the UK population think getting to the pub and exercising their right to enjoy inebriation in a public space is more important than educating our kids.
That Midlothian is gorgeous
@amir, true, eg around Temple and Gladhouse. And Cousland and Fala and Gilston and Soutra and the granites and Roslin. but it is very up and down and the main roads especially Pencailtand back to Edinburgh tend to contain maniacs.
That mass migration of humans around the country in cars, buses, trains, motorcycles, and bicycles twice a day, for the most part is a nonsense and needs to stop.
+1 for maniacal drivers in the Pencaitland area- had a number of close calls in that neck of the woods over lockdown.
I've confirmed my suspicions that I can perform my job just as well (if not better) from home than from the office however employers quickly get used to the increased productivity so it feels like we're back to square 1 in that regard.
Also related to the migration of humans... That Govts can fund high quality public transport systems based on convenience if they choose.
(Though I worry that once the financial keys are handed back to the operators many will simply fold - better just to fully nationalise public transport now)
I also learned I don't need very many, or expensive clothes, I've literally only bought a pair of chinos, and a puffer jacket from asda this year. The chinos were a necessity as my jeans were cutting me in two and I burst 2 pairs of 501s bending over.
In 2021 I need to learn what my required calorie intake is for the new world.
Also learned I don't need to use as much water as before, I really didn't need a shower every day before. 2 or 3 times a week (or after exercise) is fine.
Yanis Varoufakis...
From link
“
But the seventh secret that this year revealed represents a silver lining. While bringing about radical change is never easy, it is now abundantly clear that everything could be different. There is no longer any reason why we should accept things as they are. On the contrary, the most important truth of 2020 is captured in Bertolt Brecht’s apt and elegant aphorism: “Because things are the way they are, things will not remain the way they are.”
I can think of no greater source of hope than this revelation, delivered in a year most would prefer to forget.
“
Which is part of the problem, many people just want to forget it all.
And some people have a vested interest in making sure that people forget there ARE other possibilities - and thwart efforts to implement them.
Loving the pivot from water saving to system change. Scale is everything.
IWARTS predicts: the 2020s will be dominated by a supreme effort to persuade people that they didn't see what they really did see in 2020 and 2021.
Governments also able to borrow at the moment at 0.2 per cent. Keynesian economics possible at this rate.
Though I worry that once the financial keys are handed back to the operators many will simply fold - better just to fully nationalise public transport now)
I think most of the rail franchises are going to be nationalised.
I've learned that I do not like having the kids around all the time especially when I'm trying to work, That I'm actually not bad at wood working and that I need some more motivation to get out running or cycling.
@steveo
I am then intrigued to see your cigar box guitar?
There IS hope -
I think the thing I have learned most from 2020 is that ‘truth’ has become ever more subjective & facts really are chosen to support an existing viewpoint. This probably has always been the case, but the polarisation of society and the stresses of Covid , Trump & Brexit have made it all the more obvious. I don’t think this is just confined to people whose views I disagree with. An awful lot of the forums I frequent are turning into echo chambers, which really doesn’t help facilitate a greater understanding of different view points.
@stiltskin
We are losing the ability to disagree politely, that is a very good and very serious point.
I facebook friended a guy I was at primary school with a few years back, our paths diverged early on. He did well for himself in the army and then as a professional driver. Keen Brexiteer. Mostly just photos of bits of Kent from his motor home now but during the Brexit campaign his re-posts were all verging on racist from my POV. I thought of unfriending him but left it running to understand the enemy as it were.
He has a dark military sense of humour and this must overlap with my own peculiar sense of humour as he will sometimes Like certain things I re-post. We have it seems a tenuous connection.
Whereas I have a pal who engages with Trump supporters and rent a gobs on the EEN website. He does so in matter of fact and accurate ways. Shining example of rational thought but is he ever likely to make a connection? He continues to diligently apply himself to his task.
Ricky Tomlinson went from being right wing racist to left wing over a weekend when he was banged up in a prison cell with a trade unionist over a weekend, Connection made over all workers’ rights.
Social media, even this august body tends towards confirmation bias?
“We are losing the ability to disagree politely“
Mmm, that is clearly a generalisation and I don’t know how much that is ‘new’ and much more visible (social media etc) and both polarised and entrenched.
A (relatively) random example -
The striking miners clearly weren’t polite about the government of the day (and vice versa). But also there was a divide between those who wanted to strike and those who didn’t. The point here is that there were lasting (to this day) consequences.
What has changed is the ability to spread misinformation/lies and the willingness of some people to believe them - is THAT new?
It’s harder to argue/disagree (politely) with people who don’t just have ‘beliefs’ but base them on ideas that not based on facts/‘truth’ etc.
Add in the mix institutionalised attempts to have “balance” (BBC: Climate Change) and things can get messy.
the medium is the mess age
It's no accident that the ground rules for debate - reason, agreed facts, nuance, willingness to compromise, a fundamental respect for the opinions of others - are in retreat. Certain state actors, populist politicians and a rag-tag of largely right-wing grifters/chancers have worked to make this happen.
In some way they all benefit when debate moves from a battle of ideas to a battle of personalities - it's not what someone says, but who says it that counts. Anyone who doesn't agree with their "narrative" is decried as an elitist who lacks "common sense" or opposes the "will of the people".
This is how people end up supporting ideas that harm their own interests or, to outside observers, are clearly illogical. We seem to be entering an age that is the opposite of the enlightenment - which seems incredible when it is science, and policies that flow from that, which will see us through the current pandemic.
@gembo - the purpose of engagement on social media is not to convince the die-hards, but the on-lookers. You aren't going to change the mind of those in fixed positions, but you are giving some aid, comfort and information to those who are uncertain on an issue.
It's best to sound reasonable and factual - which is tough on those whose natural modus operandi is sarcasm and mockery.
"largely right-wing"
I'm not sure this is true, the fault lies at the extremities of both the left and right, they are as be as each other. On the right you have populism, and on the left cancel culture.
I also don't remember politics being so tribal before. I remember as a just left of centre person, people not jumping down your throat if you agreed with X Tory position, for example on crime while at the same time as agreeing with Labour position on benefits.
I prefer when politics is centre left/right. UK Labour at least seems to be heading back there at last. I wish the Tories would too, but that can't happen until BJ is out.
There's a Radio 4 series on the Death of Nuance, which is relevant.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qlsj
It covers a website called The Perspective, - strapline "There are 2 sides to every story".
I always liked the old vorlon proverb:
"Understanding is a three-edged sword. Your side, my side, and the truth"
Trying to think how to explain to my dad what has happened to his former student Andy Wightman on Skype today. The best I can think of is to say that he has been excommunicated from his party for heresy.
@steveo
Great release when I learned that all scientific propositions are wrong. Therefore as a scientist you are wrong all the time about everything. The idea is to make a point of battering your ideas against reality until they break and then moving on relentlessly. Current ideas are just those that have not been proved wrong or have practical utility despite being wrong.
@Baldcyclist - I did really think about that before posting. There are certainly plenty of Momentum types that are equally guilty of this type of unthinking. However, I don't agree that they are all as bad as each other. Right-wing, nationalist populism is clearly in the ascendency - their views more widely held and more influential.
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