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sapinker's profile
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Verified account
@sapinker

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Steven PinkerVerified account

@sapinker

Cognitive scientist at Harvard.

Boston, MA
pinker.wjh.harvard.edu
Joined January 2010

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    Steven Pinker‏Verified account @sapinker Jul 31

    Grasping at straws: Why "performative, scolding environmentalism [e.g., banning plastic straws] that is disconnected from the scale of the problems it claims to address" is not an effective way of meeting environmental challenges. https://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/voices/grasping-at-straws …

    1:48 PM - 31 Jul 2018
    • 573 Retweets
    • 1,636 Likes
    • bad nombre Canman Ernő Buzás Jonathan Galbraith Name A man has no name Seth Absurd and Worse rodolfo
    86 replies 573 retweets 1,636 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Emma Redfoot‏ @EmmaRedfoot Jul 31
        Replying to @sapinker

        Do you think the same logic applies to regulations discouraging plastic bags?

        4 replies 0 retweets 7 likes
      3. Nicholas Thompson  ⚛‏ @thompn4 Jul 31
        Replying to @EmmaRedfoot @sapinker

        Last time I was in Montreal (probably 2009?) they charged ~15 cents per plastic bag - I think a solution like that makes sense: creates an incentive to use less bags. Maybe we should just charge a small amount for straws (eg 50 cents) instead of outright banning them?

        6 replies 0 retweets 25 likes
      4. Dᴇɴɪs Jᴇʟᴇᴄ‏ @denisjelec Jul 31
        Replying to @thompn4 @EmmaRedfoot @sapinker

        Also, according to two separate (UK & Danish) studies, plastic bags are less of a problem than others (having less of an environmental impact than the alternatives).

        1 reply 0 retweets 8 likes
      5. ἐλέφας άμορφος‏ @gastlygem Jul 31
        Replying to @denisjelec @thompn4 and

        Here we have biodegradable plastic bags that cost 4 times more than a normal plastic bag, but it sure is a better alternative, no?

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      6. Simon‏ @uncriticalsimon Aug 1
        Replying to @gastlygem @denisjelec and

        Not necessarily - depends on if they actually degrade and on how much energy goes into making them.

        0 replies 0 retweets 13 likes
      7. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Jamie Burgess‏ @jamburgess Jul 31
        Replying to @sapinker

        I couldn't agree more. This is truly propaganda, so easy for corporations to embrace because they can eliminate an extra cost and appear "environmental." But individuals should not be made to feel guilty in their tiny lives for a global problem.

        1 reply 0 retweets 13 likes
      3. ᖶᖇᓿSᖶᗅᘉ‏ @triscuitbroth Aug 1
        Replying to @jamburgess @sapinker

        It is now a global problem BECAUSE no one was made to feel any ecological concern when it mattered/couldve made a bigger difference.

        1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      4. John/TheCitySquare‏ @johncitysq Aug 1
        Replying to @triscuitbroth @jamburgess @sapinker

        90% of the plastics polluting the ocean come from just ten rivers and NOT one of those rivers is in America or Europe. "Environmentalists" should stop grasping at straws. That is just virtue signaling and it ignores the real sources of the problem.https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plastic-polluting-our-oceans-comes-from-just-10-rivers/ …

        0 replies 2 retweets 10 likes
      5. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Bronwyn Sutherland‏ @bronstew Jul 31
        Replying to @sapinker

        Sitting here right now drinking an iced coffee with no straw because somewhere a long time ago I saw a pic of a straw lodged into the nose of a sea turtle (or something like that). Worked for me. I don't see how small individual acts can't make a difference too. Awareness works.

        7 replies 1 retweet 24 likes
      3. Sherwin Watson‏ @sdswatson99 Aug 1
        Replying to @bronstew @sapinker

        But doesnt such action (going strawless) prove the point being made that it makes more sense to appeal to the individual thru positve consequences than thru what may well be unenforeceable laws for a cause with still yet many questions to its actual "cause"?

        1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      4. David Ryder‏ @DavidRyder1977 Aug 2
        Replying to @sdswatson99 @bronstew @sapinker

        Nope - only government action works on this kind of thing. How many bars voluntarily had smoke bans before it was enforced? Now even smokers in general prefer it.

        3 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      5. Bronwyn Sutherland‏ @bronstew Aug 2
        Replying to @DavidRyder1977 @sdswatson99 @sapinker

        The pt I'm trying to make is that (some? most?) ppl DO want to help but don't know how in a situation where we cannot see the end result of our actions. We have to take it on faith that a small act will make a dent in a behemoth of a problem. But ppl are willing to try.

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      6. Sherwin Watson‏ @sdswatson99 Aug 2
        Replying to @bronstew @DavidRyder1977 @sapinker

        Point well made and well taken.

        0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
      7. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. S. Edward Johnson‏ @Nullcopilot Jul 31
        Replying to @sapinker

        My personal rule: If you criticize a plan of action to solve a problem, you must simultaneously advance a solution. Otherwise, get out of the way.

        3 replies 2 retweets 10 likes
      3. Damien McBain‏ @damienmcbain Jul 31
        Replying to @Nullcopilot @sapinker

        I agree. Its like feeding a 3 year old who refuses everything you suggest while also refusing to come up with an alternative. He just likes saying No.

        0 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
      4. End of conversation
      1. T‏ @itsTFunk666 Jul 31
        Replying to @sapinker

        pic.twitter.com/2xTNYdP0ZY

        0 replies 2 retweets 7 likes
        Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. Undo
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      1. New conversation
      2.  🐏 Radical  ⚛️ Goats  🐏‏ @RadicalGoats Jul 31
        Replying to @Exosynjii @sapinker

        Actually we’re the “let’s try something that actually works instead of patting ourselves on the back for doing something that’s just performative” people. You must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.

        0 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
      3. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Magnus Westerstrand‏ @MagWes Jul 31
        Replying to @sapinker

        Some time shaming workshttps://verybadwizards.fireside.fm/89 

        1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      3. Shawn Willden‏ @shawnwillden Aug 1
        Replying to @MagWes @sapinker

        It can both work and backfire at the same time. Shaming a specific action can reduce that action while building resentment toward shaming which results in defiance. I think shaming by the left in the US is the primary cause of Donald Trump's election, for example.

        1 reply 1 retweet 3 likes
      4. Magnus Westerstrand‏ @MagWes Aug 3
        Replying to @shawnwillden @sapinker

        Agree... troublesome in a strange media landscape but if one can back it upp with facts, explain it and get to show it... it can work

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
      5. End of conversation

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