Friday Meanderings
Plant Ceremony, The Panzoic Effect in Abu Dhabi, Ask an Astrobiologist, Political Reforms, and more
I’m going to be dropping some Friday postings that mostly explore things that have popped up in my head and that might not be immediately related to space exploration, astrobiology, science fiction, futurism, or philosophy (my usual jam).
I’ll use these meanderings to share about my own adventures as well as potential career opportunities that I’ve heard of (or that you might want to share yourself). This week, I’m also sharing some ideas I’ve been working through on possible political reforms (especially now that we are once again locked into election season and I’m getting at least 2 or 3 junk political text messages each day…).
I’m going to share these “Friday Meanderings” mostly for paid subscribers, but will make some of them publicly available as well (like this one). Ad astra!
Journeys
This weekend, I will be joining a plant-based meditation ceremony here in Colorado. I don’t want to share too much about the practice and those guiding the ceremony to avoid any potential issues, but I’m both excited and nervous to see where the ceremony will take me in my own explorations of my personal awareness as well as my meditation practice (not to mention addressing some long held trauma in my own life).
I’ll be speaking in November at an invitation-only meeting on exponential technologies and futurism called XPANSE. I’m stoked to take the stage alongside folks like Anil Seth and Sean Carroll to share my idea of The Panzoic Effect, first coined at TEDxBoulder last month.
My online astrobiology course for Atlas Obscura starts soon. There’s still plenty of time to sign up and take part.
Our next episode of Ask an Astrobiologist will be next week, on 31 October at 1pm Mountain Time, and is going to feature Dr. David Grinspoon. Those who join in can ask their questions for Dr. G live in the chat, but also feel free to get me any of your questions you want answered on the air (just be sure to get them to me before 31 October).
Career Corner
I know someone who is looking for possible gainful employment in the realm of science communication related to astrobiology, Earth science, and/or geobiology. They’re especially interested in possible jobs related to accessibility, museum studies, and more. They’re looking mostly around the New Jersey and Pennsylvania region right now.
Just saw this recent post on LinkedIn sharing a bunch of new openings at Blue Origin
Here’s a fun PhD opportunity for a project called: Characterizing terrestrial exoplanets with the Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) mission
Feel free to reach out if you’re looking for a job or know a position that other readers here might want to apply to!
Political Reform Ideas
The system might not be entirely broken, but it’d be hard to find anyone out there who feels like our political arenas around the globe are flourishing in rationalism and working for the people.
While our entire world needs some changes in realms like education, rational discourse, meditation and mindfulness practices for emotional depth and control, and breaking of the systems that promote wealth inequality to support the very few at the expense of the many, I do think there are some things we could do now to make things better.
Below are just some ideas for consideration for making things a little better in politics (focused primarily on the U.S.)
1. Ranked Choice Voting and Deliberative Democracy:
Expand Ranked Choice Voting: Beyond just implementing ranked choice voting (RCV) across all elections, we could integrate it with a deliberative democracy model. This would involve organizing citizen assemblies or panels to discuss major issues, where members are selected randomly (but, of course, willingly) to represent a cross-section of society. These assemblies could use RCV on issues to make recommendations on policy, ensuring that decisions reflect the nuanced views of the public rather than the extremes. A place this might work the best is in how we share our ideas at town and city hall meetings (if you haven’t been to one or watched one online, they can be quite the circus of ideas).
Civic Education: Coupling RCV with enhanced civic education programs would help citizens understand the complexities of issues and the importance of evaluating all candidates and policies, leading to more informed voting and (hopefully) more rational outcomes. I personally have a lot of issues with our current education systems, so I have lots of ideas for how to make things better, but I think we need a society where people see education as more than just “going to school”. And having more people feel like a civic education is a duty and an honor could help.
2. Balanced Executive Branch with Bipartisan Collaboration:
Runner-Up as Vice President: Making the runner-up in the presidential election the Vice President would ensure that the executive branch reflects diverse viewpoints. I’ve gotten a lot of pushback on this one, especially from those who are rather “far left” or “far right” leaning. “But if the President dies then [insert name of person I hate because of their party] will take over”—that’s one of the usual rebuttals. But that’s not a bad thing. If the Vice President had a stronger role and more power and had balanced or even alternate opinions to the President, it could help the executive branch to ensure that they’re speaking for as much of the populace as possible.
To further this goal, we could require regular, public roundtable discussions between the President, Vice President, and key cabinet members from both parties. These discussions would focus on policy development and problem-solving, rather than political point-scoring, and could be moderated by a nonpartisan body to ensure fairness and encourage constructive dialogue.
Executive Branch Oversight Committee: Establishing an independent oversight committee composed of experts in law, ethics, and public policy could help monitor the executive branch’s decisions and ensure they are grounded in rational, evidence-based reasoning rather than political expediency.
3. Term Limits with Transition Support and Ethical Standards:
Congressional Term Limits: Implementing term limits in Congress would encourage fresh ideas and reduce the risk of entrenchment and corruption. However, to ensure continuity and expertise, we could offer transition support programs that help outgoing lawmakers continue to contribute to public service in non-political roles, such as advisors or educators. Of course, we’d have to ensure that they couldn’t use such positions to control younger elected officials, though.
Supreme Court Reform: Term limits for Supreme Court justices could be paired with a clear, enforceable code of ethics that includes strict rules against accepting gifts or engaging in activities that could create conflicts of interest. Additionally, justices could undergo regular, nonpartisan evaluations to assess their adherence to these ethical standards.
4. Shortened Election Season with Focus on Policy, Not Politics:
Regulated Campaign Periods: By legally shortening the campaign season, we could reduce the influence of money in politics and encourage candidates to focus on substantive policy discussions rather than prolonged, expensive campaigns. This could be enforced through strict limits on campaign spending and the use of public forums for debates and policy presentations. Let’s face it, the current system of “public debates” isn’t really helping anyone, so making a change there is almost mandatory at this point.
Publicly Funded Debates: Organizing a series of publicly funded, moderated debates where candidates must discuss their policies in depth—rather than relying on soundbites—would promote rational discourse. These debates could be paired with fact-checking and analysis provided by independent organizations, helping voters make informed decisions.
5. Promoting Rational Discourse and Reducing Partisan Polarization:
Nonpartisan Redistricting: Reforming the way electoral districts are drawn, through independent, nonpartisan commissions, would reduce gerrymandering and create more competitive districts. This would encourage candidates to appeal to a broader range of voters and prioritize rational, centrist policies over partisan extremes.
Media Accountability: Encouraging media organizations to adhere to strict standards of accuracy and fairness would help reduce the spread of misinformation and promote rational public discourse. This could be supported by public funding for nonpartisan news outlets and educational programs that teach critical thinking and media literacy.
These reforms aim to create a political system that values rationalism, encourages informed decision-making, and fosters collaboration across party lines. Of course, these are all rather lofty goals, especially for a society where most people are driven more by their emotional reactivity than their rational and objective consideration of the issues. But I think it’s okay to dream about what could be possible and then try some things to make everything just a little bit better.
What are your thoughts? What would you change if you could to make things just a little better for all of us?
Wrapping things up here: there are now a solid number of you who are regularly reading, subscribing, and sharing The Cosmobiologist.
I’d love to hear from you about the cadence and length of my writings that serve you best, ways that you might want to get involved (I’d love to consider cross-posting and/or sharing your ideas as well), and what kind of writing you like the most. It’s probably apparent by now that I like to write about science, science fiction, aliens, and philosophy, but I also want to share in ideas with all of you that inspire, challenge, and support your own adventures.