Being able to filter what’s signal and what’s noise is certainly hard. This is particularly relevant if sifting through culture and discerning it is part of what you do.
There’s been a lot of noise (good and otherwise) of late on citizen-led change around the climate emergency. With COP 26 approaching, and only grudging action in Canberra and among top polluters, everyone from school kids to comedians is playing a role. We can’t begrudge a bit of hot air here but if our very lives are at stake it’s helpful to know what ideas and actions are landing with people and what is just the day’s news and water cooler conversation.
A well-regarded study and book have found that ideas travel in two ways. Simple ideas with low cost to participate travel quickly and easily. Hello red flag meme on Twitter. Ideas with more complexity that really ask something of you travel more slowly, from one social circle to the next and make take months and years. Shared bike and car schemes in a community with high private ownership for example.
With the climate emergency a keen topic at many dinner tables, uber rides, and weekend soccer games here are some examples of playful, easy ideas that get talked about, and some that are worth close attention but might need some more work from us to absorb.
