Invite Unconference, mistakes with words
Interested in sustainability, innovation, progress… how humans might thrive and survive over the long term? Come to our UnConference.
I’m technically on holiday. Hence the late letter, this week, filled with links to other people’s work and a thought on mistakes I’ve made with words. The first item is an invite to our co-hosted UnConference.
Interested in sustainability, innovation, progress… how humans might thrive and survive over the long term?
The Sustainability Accelerator UnConference is a participatory one-day event. We will bring together thinkers from a wide range of backgrounds to discuss challenges and solutions to reach a sustainable future over the long term.
We will use OpenSpace with Improbable. At traditional conferences, some of the best conversations happen in the corridors and the audience have just as many ideas as the panel. You can find out more about Improbable and the way in which they use Open Space here.
On the day, participants self-organise to create their own agenda, allowing a dynamic and immediate response to the issues at hand. Any participant can timetable a topic on something that they want to work on. Nothing is out of bounds. Once all the topics are timetabled, participants move into smaller, flexible break-out groups. People work on the things that they feel most passionate about.
Date: Friday, 16 September | Approx 9.30am to 4.30pm
Venue: Chatham House, 10 St James’s Square, London SW1Y 4LE
If you think this might be for you and I hope it is, email me and I will register you. Or link to register here.
I’ve made a few mistakes with words. Before I knew better I used to say “idiot” or occasionally “moron”.
Now I try very hard not to. I tend to use made up words.
Such as Ding Dong or a Linga-a-Long.
Yes, we can all be Ding Dongs.
I once had a period where I tried using Limonella as a substitute when JP was randomly trying out swear words he was figuring out by looking at “****” words on the internet. (The accidental teaching of swear words by using a blocker app. It would have likely only delayed it (I suspect), but I think he would not have noticed them without them being **** starred out. He used the **** to notice the pattern of words that were “bad language”). This was inspired by a comedic tale from Jon Ronson when he tried to use Limone as a substitute for the worst swear word ever….! (Link end).
I was part aware and then Stephen Unwin really spelt out for me how idiot and moron and imbecile were used very harmfully against the learning disabled and others (and continue to be used in this way, today). And so, once I knew these words are loaded in this way, I stopped using them.
Same goes for “articulate” in the context of black people, a friend pointed out to me, recently. This is more a US problem, but as she explained, it comes with a lot of baggage in the US. Best not to use it, even if it means a few more phrases to express your meaning. (I have since changed the relevant wording). The issue came up in 2007 with Obama, and more recently in 2020 with Kamala Harris. (links end)
While we’re on the topic, don’t refer to some one as “Down’s” if they have Down’s Syndrome (as they don’t like the idea of being owned by John Down). In the US, it is referred to as Down Syndrome (without the possessive apostrophe). Don’t suggest that people “suffer” with or from Down’s syndrome either.
It’s easy to be careless. It can also feel a bit of a chore and perhaps there is a touch of the culture wars at play, but words matter, and I think we should try and get them right. An easy solution if you are in any doubt is to ask the person concerned how they like to be referred to, if possible.
As Zoratastians remind me:
Right Thought, Right Word, Right Deed or perhaps translated as good thoughts, good words, good actions.
پندار نیک، گفتار نیک، کردار نیک (pendâr-e nik, goftâr-e nik, kerdâr-e nik)
Or,
اندیشه نیک، گفتار نیک، کردار نیک • (andiš-e nik, goftâr-e nik, kerdâr-e nik)
(There has been a more recent word replacement here.1 As a poetic adjustment)
In the creative world, my friend Winnie Li has her book published, Complicit. A thriller based on the men who control the film industry seen though the ideas of protagonist, Sarah Lai. Blog on it here and link to The Guardian review.
Winnie M Li’s first novel, Dark Chapter, offered a fictionalised account of her own sexual assault, written in part, she has said, “to do justice to the survivors’ experience”. Her follow-up, Complicit, is born out of the same urgent need to address questions of silence and suppression, and feels particularly timely in its depiction of the film industry and the men who control the stories (in every sense).
My friend, Kit Whitfield has a novel: In the Heart of Hidden Things, of a rural community living in a faerie-touched world, kept safe by a family of blacksmiths. It touches askance on the idea of “other” (such as neruodivergence) in a wonderful, fantastical way. Even if you don’t read much fantasy, I recommend.
And, my friend Sonali has a play on at the Young Vic, London:
In ESG world, Samantha Chew has a blog re: modern slavery in the UK notably in the real estate sector. Chew et al suggest five actions for companies, including asset owners and asset managers, to drive systemic change:
1. Sharper consideration and mitigation of modern slavery risks across supply chain
2. Enhanced due diligence and engagement with investment managers and/or investee companies on modern slavery
3. Increased collaboration through policy, sector and value chain engagement
4. Greater transparency on modern slavery, e.g., through modern slavery statements and stewardship disclosures
5. Strengthened governance at Board and senior management levels (through training for instance) on the prevention and identification of human exploitation, including supporting and remediating survivors
Progress thinker, scientist and science writer, Saloni Dattani has started a newsletter, if you are interested in science worth following.
Think Tank economist, Sam Dumitru has a blog arguing for economic growth and the tax proposals to support this. Tax policy wonky…. But focuses on allowing for capital expensing… one for the wonk nerds.
Mya-Rose Craig, aka Bird Girl has a memoir out:
We did a podcast on birdwatching in 2021:
Other thoughts this week re: climate…
David Wallace-Wells recounts how the heat wave in India has not been as deadly as we feared. There are a few reasons: undercounting, humidity vs dry heat, adaptation, cultural change; maybe more survivability than we had thought.
But, as we will very likely (90%+ chance, my forecast based on reading and talking to scientists) go past “1.5c”, it will be important to consider what happens in the real world.
Climate policy has anchored on 1.5c and 2c to make the climate narrative easier to invoke for people and politicians.
But the world is not a point estimate on a chart. At some point the narrative will need to evolve. I am not sure how, and whether the push back will be substantial.
In reality it will need to be (I think) along the lines of: we need to mitigate, and we need to adapt. NetZero by 2050 would be excellent, but before 2100 is better than after 2100 - but catchier.
My podcast chat with Kana Chan of Tending Gardens is coming up. If you have questions on what it might be like to live on a rural zero waste village in Japan, let us know. Her substack is here.
Links:
Also our recent podcast:
Life Expectancy and US healthcare essay:
Live stream shopping. It’s a thing.
New variant:
Stolen data from China
Misperceptions over party composition
Disability discourse
Links on words…
Articulate, a loaded word. Here and below, https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/weekinreview/04clemetson.html
The replacement of the Persian word ‘andiše’ (thought) with ‘pendâr’ (imaginative thought / supposition) is believed to be a recent poetic adjustment such that all nouns end in ‘-âr’. ‘pendâr’, ‘goftâr’, and ‘kerdâr’. Andiše more accurately covers the meaning of the Avestan ‘humata’. (Avestan now the extinct language formerly spoken in the Iran region)