Waiting for the book on Audible. Curious if it will address anxiety towards cascading risks from very separate fields and how there may be some complex interplay which helps some people. Obviously it may make things worse for some psychologically. For instance, I used to be stressed about the "impossibility" of infinity as a middle-schooler however when I lost faith in my simplified version of Christianity, the concept of infinity and the concept of "oneness" from some forms of Mahayana Buddhism comforted me. It's fascinating to watch the anxiety of existential risk from climate change be set against the incredible hype around the existential risk of general artificial intelligence. Recently, I cope by musing that perhaps an AI/machine/human hybrid future will better be able to align complex systems interests better than a human future alone and this hybrid future may make us more resilient as well. With this, I gain a sense of optimism and adventure for my 4 year old to explore this new wondrous world. I know its a biased techno-utopian perspective but it helps me sleep at night and we definitely have evidence that sleep is important for mental health. :)
The book deals with anxieties from the planetary health crisis, so larger than just climate change (biodiversity collapse, land transformation, food and water scarcity, etc) as well as anxieties from the nuclear threat, and increasingly I'm talking about AI and synthetic pandemic (synthetic biology-derived) anxieties when I give talks, but these aren't core to the book. It's a breathless pace at which people are getting anxious about AI, I agree. I'm glad you are sleeping well! As the mom of a toddler who didn't sleep the first year, it's crucial for mental health and wellbeing :)
Great!!!!! I love it when the author is the reader and glad you deal with the idea of multiple threats. Audible.com might be trying to replace some of their coders with a dysfunctional LLM or by this time, vice-versa. :) The link above leads me to a site whereby your book is "unavailable for download in my region". Searching for your name and/or your book in their search bar does not yield results. Hopefully it's a temporary mishap but if not, maybe you need to contact them and yell at them in a very human way. :) In the meantime, I'll keep trying and if anything changes, I'll repost here. Thanks!!!
Atherton, CA. Maybe they don't like Steph Curry's recent objection to high density housing in this area or the preponderance of labradoodles. :) I'll restart my computer and try again.
My goodness, you're close! I'm in Los Gatos, CA right now. OK yes that's odd, it is showing up for me and is widely avail on Audible US (or should be!)
Updated Chrome, no dice, tried in MS Edge, tried on IOS app on my phone, still nothing. I signed up for Audible in the US. Very strange. Sent PM on instagram with screenshot. Hopefully just my account.
Your book is absolutely great, thanks for doing all the research and writing it! As I live in Germany, I'd love to share it with my German friends who don't read English so well. Is there a German translation being planned? If so, when would it come out?
Really enjoying your book. It validates many feelings I have had for decades, and enables me to have conversations in new ways with community practitioners. I am letting my network know about your book. I am trained in the climate change science; communicating about more than the science is critical and helpful for others.
Waiting for the book on Audible. Curious if it will address anxiety towards cascading risks from very separate fields and how there may be some complex interplay which helps some people. Obviously it may make things worse for some psychologically. For instance, I used to be stressed about the "impossibility" of infinity as a middle-schooler however when I lost faith in my simplified version of Christianity, the concept of infinity and the concept of "oneness" from some forms of Mahayana Buddhism comforted me. It's fascinating to watch the anxiety of existential risk from climate change be set against the incredible hype around the existential risk of general artificial intelligence. Recently, I cope by musing that perhaps an AI/machine/human hybrid future will better be able to align complex systems interests better than a human future alone and this hybrid future may make us more resilient as well. With this, I gain a sense of optimism and adventure for my 4 year old to explore this new wondrous world. I know its a biased techno-utopian perspective but it helps me sleep at night and we definitely have evidence that sleep is important for mental health. :)
Thanks Michael - it sure is a 'polycrisis' party that our anxieties are tending to these days!
The book is already available on Audible here. https://www.audible.com/pd/Generation-Dread-Audiobook/0735280746 I spent dozens of hours in a stuffy booth recording it so I hope you enjoy ;)
The book deals with anxieties from the planetary health crisis, so larger than just climate change (biodiversity collapse, land transformation, food and water scarcity, etc) as well as anxieties from the nuclear threat, and increasingly I'm talking about AI and synthetic pandemic (synthetic biology-derived) anxieties when I give talks, but these aren't core to the book. It's a breathless pace at which people are getting anxious about AI, I agree. I'm glad you are sleeping well! As the mom of a toddler who didn't sleep the first year, it's crucial for mental health and wellbeing :)
Great!!!!! I love it when the author is the reader and glad you deal with the idea of multiple threats. Audible.com might be trying to replace some of their coders with a dysfunctional LLM or by this time, vice-versa. :) The link above leads me to a site whereby your book is "unavailable for download in my region". Searching for your name and/or your book in their search bar does not yield results. Hopefully it's a temporary mishap but if not, maybe you need to contact them and yell at them in a very human way. :) In the meantime, I'll keep trying and if anything changes, I'll repost here. Thanks!!!
Oh, interesting! What region are you in? I'll check it out, thank you for letting me know
Atherton, CA. Maybe they don't like Steph Curry's recent objection to high density housing in this area or the preponderance of labradoodles. :) I'll restart my computer and try again.
My goodness, you're close! I'm in Los Gatos, CA right now. OK yes that's odd, it is showing up for me and is widely avail on Audible US (or should be!)
Updated Chrome, no dice, tried in MS Edge, tried on IOS app on my phone, still nothing. I signed up for Audible in the US. Very strange. Sent PM on instagram with screenshot. Hopefully just my account.
Your book is absolutely great, thanks for doing all the research and writing it! As I live in Germany, I'd love to share it with my German friends who don't read English so well. Is there a German translation being planned? If so, when would it come out?
Thanks also for your kind words about my book
Thank you for the question! Just got your email and responded :)
Excited the book is almost here and can't wait to pre-order and read!
Thanks a million Kim!
Really enjoying your book. It validates many feelings I have had for decades, and enables me to have conversations in new ways with community practitioners. I am letting my network know about your book. I am trained in the climate change science; communicating about more than the science is critical and helpful for others.
A great book that I recommend. It helps work through the issues and uplift the spirit. Thanks Britt!