Why this effect? Not because @GretaThunberg ate less meat or encouraged her family not to fly: if that's all she'd done, we'd never know her name. No, it's because she did one simple but incredibly powerful thing we can all emulate: she raised her voice to advocate for change.

Every year, I add 2 new low-carbon habits to my life. But every DAY, I do the most impt thing anyone can to do change the system we live in: I TALK about climate change. Not the science details, but why it matters and how, working together, we can fix it. https://t.co/6v7DAA8BlB
Individual's power to alter the world is splashed across human history; and social science is starting to understand how we do this. A tsunami of change begins by changing social norms & accumulating a groundswell of (at first) nearly invisible support. https://t.co/89Qrbik1bP
And who's the best person to talk about climate change? It turns out we scientists are the second most trusted messengers. The number one most effective person is YOU: to friends, family and people you know. https://t.co/4WAfsx1kQW
I'm so convinced of this that I've spent the last year reading dozens of books on everything from philosophy to neuroscience & 100s of articles from psychology to social change & putting it all into this book that I'm VERY excited about. Out in Sept 2021! https://t.co/j8gqYXO1Xm
PS. For the data on why talking about it is so important, check out these three maps from @YaleClimateComm. If we don't talk about it, why would anyone care? And if no one cares, how will we act?
PPS. for more on the importance of walking the walk and (of course) talking about what we and others are doing , which is the #1 mechanism by which we alter social norms, see ... https://t.co/wtgXsVQlgs
PPPS. For valuable insight on the tension between individual actions and the system-wide change that's truly needed to fix climate change, please read these two excellent essays by @MaryHeglar and @MichaelEMann:
1/ https://t.co/e1MDOIiXZe
2/ https://t.co/YXr5Uq3WWN
And just to be clear, I'm not advocating spending much time talking to dismissives. This thread explains why. I'm talking about talking to the 90% of us whose perspectives and opinions can be moved! https://t.co/3TZQQQpFYX

More from For later read

The common understanding of propaganda is that it is intended to brainwash the masses. Supposedly, people get exposed to the same message repeatedly and over time come to believe in whatever nonsense authoritarians want them to believe /1

And yet authoritarians often broadcast silly, unpersuasive propaganda.

Political scientist Haifeng Huang writes that the purpose of propaganda is not to brainwash people, but to instill fear in them /2


When people are bombarded with propaganda everywhere they look, they are reminded of the strength of the regime.

The vast amount of resources authoritarians spend to display their message in every corner of the public square is a costly demonstration of their power /3

In fact, the overt silliness of authoritarian propaganda is part of the point. Propaganda is designed to be silly so that people can instantly recognize it when they see it


Propaganda is intended to instill fear in people, not brainwash them.

The message is: You might not believe in pro-regime values or attitudes. But we will make sure you are too frightened to do anything about it.
I shared this on my FB page and asked, can ya really blame him?

I was half kidding. I also assumed someone would think of what I did pretty quickly and waiting for the comment to mention what I assumed was obvious.

The timing. I was sure someone else had thought of it.


But no one did. 20+ comments in people discussed the morality or bad sense or libertarian perspectives. Someone even said I’m thinking about doing that. No one said what I thought was obvious. Have you thought of it? Is it obvious to you?

Here’s a clue...recognize it?


How about this?


The author discusses it with Mike Wallace in 1958

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MDZS is laden with buddhist references. As a South Asian person, and history buff, it is so interesting to see how Buddhism, which originated from India, migrated, flourished & changed in the context of China. Here's some research (🙏🏼 @starkjeon for CN insight + citations)

1. LWJ’s sword Bichen ‘is likely an abbreviation for the term 躲避红尘 (duǒ bì hóng chén), which can be translated as such: 躲避: shunning or hiding away from 红尘 (worldly affairs; which is a buddhist teaching.) (
https://t.co/zF65W3roJe) (abbrev. TWX)

2. Sandu (三 毒), Jiang Cheng’s sword, refers to the three poisons (triviṣa) in Buddhism; desire (kāma-taṇhā), delusion (bhava-taṇhā) and hatred (vibhava-taṇhā).

These 3 poisons represent the roots of craving (tanha) and are the cause of Dukkha (suffering, pain) and thus result in rebirth.

Interesting that MXTX used this name for one of the characters who suffers, arguably, the worst of these three emotions.

3. The Qian kun purse “乾坤袋 (qián kūn dài) – can be called “Heaven and Earth” Pouch. In Buddhism, Maitreya (मैत्रेय) owns this to store items. It was believed that there was a mythical space inside the bag that could absorb the world.” (TWX)