Comments on: The Point of Vanishing Interest http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/ Everyone has a right to my opinions Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:11:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Robert http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-18248 Robert Thu, 02 Nov 2006 18:04:17 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-18248 Parkinson is not talking about advancement and accumulation of power, so much as the ever expanding use of resources for no good end. Parkinson is not talking about advancement and accumulation of power, so much as the ever expanding use of resources for no good end.

]]> By: Charles Barton http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-18235 Charles Barton Thu, 02 Nov 2006 16:32:38 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-18235 Parkenson was a plagerist. Oliver Cromwell said: “No one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going. " Why shouldn't it be Cromewll's law? Parkenson was a plagerist. Oliver Cromwell said: “No one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going. ” Why shouldn’t it be Cromewll’s law?

]]> By: Fay http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17990 Fay Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:45:04 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17990 Thanks for opening up so many new ideas for me in the last couple of days. Actually, not completely new but these discussions are making me see some of the things I am doing in a different way. In particular the Smallweg blog by your friend Michelle Kasprzak – I see the last post (so to speak) on that discussion was May 21 so correspondence may now be closed (?) but I am really fascinated by the potential for creating and sustaining so many different kinds of communities whether they are thousands of miles apart or in the next street. Informally, I am already doing that with emails among my own family – it's great when my sons and husband are in another country but it can also be an excellent way of communicating when they are in the next room! More formally, I am just starting to use another blog to explore the potential for making links between communities in the same part of town (part of a multicultural network or as a friend Kimho Ip (http://www.kimhoip.com/) prefers to call it intercultural exchange). But I also really like your idea, Robert, of the tenement network which may one day produce a community garden – I know of several people who are already turning their backgreens into fantastic spaces. It could be great to create 'green corridors' between all these different community gardens in the city (Edinburgh and elsewhere) so people can learn from each other what works and what doesn't. How to get people to take turns weeding and planting. Or get involved at all. Another interesting example is Greener Leith (http://www.greenerleith.squarespace.com/greener-leith-news/), a community website campaigning for community greenespace in the Leith area. PS can't work out how to insert website links on someone else's blog (so much to learn...) Thanks for opening up so many new ideas for me in the last couple of days. Actually, not completely new but these discussions are making me see some of the things I am doing in a different way. In particular the Smallweg blog by your friend Michelle Kasprzak – I see the last post (so to speak) on that discussion was May 21 so correspondence may now be closed (?) but I am really fascinated by the potential for creating and sustaining so many different kinds of communities whether they are thousands of miles apart or in the next street.

Informally, I am already doing that with emails among my own family – it’s great when my sons and husband are in another country but it can also be an excellent way of communicating when they are in the next room! More formally, I am just starting to use another blog to explore the potential for making links between communities in the same part of town (part of a multicultural network or as a friend Kimho Ip (http://www.kimhoip.com/) prefers to call it intercultural exchange).

But I also really like your idea, Robert, of the tenement network which may one day produce a community garden – I know of several people who are already turning their backgreens into fantastic spaces. It could be great to create ‘green corridors’ between all these different community gardens in the city (Edinburgh and elsewhere) so people can learn from each other what works and what doesn’t. How to get people to take turns weeding and planting. Or get involved at all. Another interesting example is Greener Leith (http://www.greenerleith.squarespace.com/greener-leith-news/), a community website campaigning for community greenespace in the Leith area.

PS can’t work out how to insert website links on someone else’s blog (so much to learn…)

]]> By: Fay Young » Bums on seats http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17832 Fay Young » Bums on seats Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:00:32 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17832 [...] I was surprised (and, ok, dead chuffed) to have my council ‘report’, Hot air stifles climate change debate picked up by Robert as an illustration of his earlier blog about the impact of ‘citizen journalism’. This was my first personal experience of the way blogs can be passed through communities either because they share similar clusters of attitudes or because they need amunition to disagree with them. It is both exhiliarating and slightly scary – there are some decidedly odd buggers out there! And would you believe it, they don’t all agree with me? [...] [...] I was surprised (and, ok, dead chuffed) to have my council ‘report’, Hot air stifles climate change debate picked up by Robert as an illustration of his earlier blog about the impact of ‘citizen journalism’. This was my first personal experience of the way blogs can be passed through communities either because they share similar clusters of attitudes or because they need amunition to disagree with them. It is both exhiliarating and slightly scary – there are some decidedly odd buggers out there! And would you believe it, they don’t all agree with me? [...]

]]> By: Fay http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17808 Fay Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:15:10 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17808 Don't you think we are unlikely to make constructive changes in our lives without intervention? And are those interventions such a bad thing? Other UK local authorities are already introducing systems to reduce waste, encourage renewables, reduce car use and increase energy efficiency so they can cut carbon emissions in their area. I could live with that kind of intervention. Besides, the consumer choices we 'freely' make in our daily lives in developed countries are already imposing a hell of an intervention in the lives of people in Africa, Arctic circle, Latin America, Asia... to say nothing of Scotland where flash flooding is likely to make it impossible to get insurance in some high risk areas. Seems to me, local governments have a responsibility to lead a debate on how we might adjust our behaviour and social investments to cope with changes that are already happening – and try to prevent them getting much worse. Perhaps this stuff about chairs and desks is an interesting example of collective denial. Don’t you think we are unlikely to make constructive changes in our lives without intervention? And are those interventions such a bad thing? Other UK local authorities are already introducing systems to reduce waste, encourage renewables, reduce car use and increase energy efficiency so they can cut carbon emissions in their area. I could live with that kind of intervention.

Besides, the consumer choices we ‘freely’ make in our daily lives in developed countries are already imposing a hell of an intervention in the lives of people in Africa, Arctic circle, Latin America, Asia…

to say nothing of Scotland where flash flooding is likely to make it impossible to get insurance in some high risk areas. Seems to me, local governments have a responsibility to lead a debate on how we might adjust our behaviour and social investments to cope with changes that are already happening – and try to prevent them getting much worse.

Perhaps this stuff about chairs and desks is an interesting example of collective denial.

]]> By: Tim Newman http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17731 Tim Newman Tue, 31 Oct 2006 03:25:52 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17731 I'm rather pleased that local governments spend more time on reatively harmless things such as new furniture than granting themselves ever greater powers to intervene in people's lives in an effort to tackle climate change. I’m rather pleased that local governments spend more time on reatively harmless things such as new furniture than granting themselves ever greater powers to intervene in people’s lives in an effort to tackle climate change.

]]> By: Andrew Zalotocky http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17697 Andrew Zalotocky Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:06:05 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17697 Parkinson's example of the nuclear reactor and the coffee budget could also be seen as a demonstration of how people judge the importance of something by its price. The reactor is assumed to be important because it is so expensive, and the coffee is assumed to be unimportant because it costs so little. Hence, they are happy to spend £10 million on the reactor but worry if they can really justify spending £21 on mere beverages. Parkinson’s example of the nuclear reactor and the coffee budget could also be seen as a demonstration of how people judge the importance of something by its price. The reactor is assumed to be important because it is so expensive, and the coffee is assumed to be unimportant because it costs so little. Hence, they are happy to spend £10 million on the reactor but worry if they can really justify spending £21 on mere beverages.

]]> By: Fay http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17678 Fay Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:18:08 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17678 Yes, I think the EN report does reinforce your point about citizen journalists – one of the things that frustrates me about conventional media and politicians is that they both seem to assume the public is not up to coping with complex arguments, or any shades of grey. Could that be why so many papers are losing readers while the number of people turning out to vote continues to decline? Yes, I think the EN report does reinforce your point about citizen journalists – one of the things that frustrates me about conventional media and politicians is that they both seem to assume the public is not up to coping with complex arguments, or any shades of grey.

Could that be why so many papers are losing readers while the number of people turning out to vote continues to decline?

]]> By: Robert http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17675 Robert Mon, 30 Oct 2006 13:31:37 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17675 <em>Have you read his ‘Inlaws and Outlaws’?</em> No Chairwoman, I have not. Let's hope a stray relative reads this post before 25th December... Have you read his ‘Inlaws and Outlaws’?

No Chairwoman, I have not. Let’s hope a stray relative reads this post before 25th December…

]]> By: Robert http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17674 Robert Mon, 30 Oct 2006 13:29:58 +0000 http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2006/10/30/the-point-of-vanishing-interest/#comment-17674 Interesting. I did not realise that the Evening News <em>had</em> made a <a href="http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1604292006" rel="nofollow">report</a> on the tables and chairs. I'm not sure whether that reinforces or weakens my point about citizen journalists filling the gap that the MSM does not reach. Reinforces, I hope, since their report seems to be without the context of the debate on climate change... In Parkinson's essay, the committee members spend about two minutes to approve the construction of a £10 million nuclear reactor (a number they cannot really understand, for a project too technical to comprehend), and spend about an hour discussing a £21 per year coffee budget (costs and concepts they understand only too well). Likewise, everyone will have an opinion on whether to replace the mahogany chairs with Ikea - they are sitting in them, after all. But climate change is a multi-headed hydra, that will cost <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6096084.stm" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">trillions</a> to combat, not to mention the ideological and leadership challenges we will encounter along the way. Interesting. I did not realise that the Evening News had made a report on the tables and chairs. I’m not sure whether that reinforces or weakens my point about citizen journalists filling the gap that the MSM does not reach. Reinforces, I hope, since their report seems to be without the context of the debate on climate change…

In Parkinson’s essay, the committee members spend about two minutes to approve the construction of a £10 million nuclear reactor (a number they cannot really understand, for a project too technical to comprehend), and spend about an hour discussing a £21 per year coffee budget (costs and concepts they understand only too well).

Likewise, everyone will have an opinion on whether to replace the mahogany chairs with Ikea - they are sitting in them, after all. But climate change is a multi-headed hydra, that will cost trillions to combat, not to mention the ideological and leadership challenges we will encounter along the way.

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