Turning Earth

RTÉ tell us "The Truth Matters". The Washington Post carries the tagline "Democracy Dies In Darkness". What do these statements mean? How much do our actions align with our values? How does the news work?

An interview with William Hederman from Futureproof Clare. William explains the dual threat of Liquified Natural Gas and the runaway construction of data centres in Ireland.

We are facing a future of energy shortages and catastrophic climate change. The Irish government, instead of tackling the issues, are trying to preserve business as usual and sacrificing our stability and safety in the process. Have a listen to this episode, to hear from just one of the groups resisting this lunacy.

https://www.facebook.com/futureproofclare

A short episode exploring the ecological and social issues surrounding the construction of data centres in Ireland.

This episode is an interview with independent researcher and activist Mark Malone. We take a look at how the far right use social media to organise, and how social media platforms benefit from hosting extremist content.

https://farrightobservatory.medium.com/remembering-the-utoya-massacre-as-facebook-hosts-calls-to-kill-irish-president-cf10790af67a

The Principle of Charity is based on the idea that 'arguments should aim at finding the truth, not winning the fight.' We can use it as a tool: to fully understand the opinions and feelings of people we disagree with, and to fully understand our own worldview. To challenge and refine our own views and opinions, to keep an awareness of what feelings they are based on. Ultimately, to get closer to the truth.

But it's not applicable to every situation. Sometimes someone is just so full of nonsense that they'll have you wound up like a spring before you know what's going on. Join me for a wee while as I try to suss this out.

https://ethics.org.au/ethics-explainer-the-principle-of-charity/

"The heartbeat of critical thinking is the longing to know - to understand how life works." - bell hooks

Thinking is an action. Thinking about the world and how it works is a practical act. Thinking about how we think will make us better thinkers. Every child is born with this wonder in their minds and somewhere along the way life beats it out of us. We lose our ability to ask questions and we associate it with drudgery and punishment. We get stuck. We can get unstuck.

Part 3 of Psychic Self Defense: how we can train our mind to be a better truth-seeker and avoid getting fooled, the differences between criticism and critique, the education system doesn't want us to be active thinkers, logical fallacies, identifying ideologies.

Moving deeper in to Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World, we'll have a think about how we can use the scientific method to tell if we're being lied to. Who's telling us the most real story of reality, or who's trying to confuse us, to lead us astray, or to exploit us?

An audio essay, some sonic rambles and worried mumbles, wondering about how do we know the truth, who can we trust, who's being a nonsense-merchant and who's pointing us in the right direction? Guided by Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World, I'll try to drown out some of the noise with some mostly sensible sense.

This is part two of the first episode in a new series, where we'll be thinking and talking about forests. In part two we delve a little deeper into the ideology behind the practice of monoculture, and what role government and big companies play. We also explore the alternative approaches and responses we can make as communities.

This episode features excerpts from an interview with Natalia Beylis from the campaign group Save Leitrim: www.facebook.com/saveleitrim/

Music by Woven Skull: wovenskull.bandcamp.com/

Imagery by Gareth: www.instagram.com/probablygareth.art/

Production: lovelynoises.com/

The first episode in a new series, where we'll be thinking and talking about forests. In this episode we talk about monoculture, the many ways that it's jeopardising the basis for life on earth, and what we can do about it.

This episode features excerpts from an interview with Natalia Beylis from the campaign group Save Leitrim: https://www.facebook.com/saveleitrim/

Music by Woven Skull: https://wovenskull.bandcamp.com/

Imagery by Gareth: https://www.instagram.com/probablygareth.art/

Production: https://lovelynoises.com/