Spencer R. Scott, PhD

Standford* grad and you have me

I just realized, as I entertain the fear of AI robots taking over the world, that they too are subject to the Fermi Paradox. If inorganic intelligence was so inevitable, where is everybody (robot aliens)?

But that’s what Trump probably wants :(

CDC webpages are going dark as Trump reaches to control narratives that might make him look bad @lennecefer.bsky.social wrote a particularly useful article to explain why autocrats think like this and how to outmaneuver them.

open.substack.com/pub/drlennec...

What’s our offline plan folks

I appreciate all the people recommending the Shock Doctrine. I've been thinking about what makes Trump's use of these tactics a little different.

In recent decades, shock tactics were used mainly to rapidly impose neoliberal economic policies. But what Trump is doing goes way beyond that.

a 🧵

The brain drain has begun.

I'm not teaching my grad course 'Civil Resistance: How It Works' this semester. But here is an abridged version of the course schedule, readings, and films I used the last time I taught it (in 2022). Just in case it's useful. drive.google.com/file/d/14RRJ...

Democracy depends in part on people who refuse to comply with unlawful (and/or unethical) orders.

Once again pounding the "support local, independent, worker-run newsrooms" sign

Some thoughts on resistance and resilience 💚

Post-growth: the science of wellbeing within planetary boundaries There are increasing concerns that continued economic growth in high-income countries might not be environmentally sustainable, socially beneficial, or economically achievable. In this Review, we expl...

Wow, Jason Hickel, Tim Jackson, AND Kate Raworth?? This is like the Avengers meet-up of my anti-capitalist book shelf.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Companies Scaling Back or Denouncing DEI

Amazon
Boeing
Brown-Forman
Caterpillar
Ford
Harley-Davidson
John Deere
Lowe’s
Molson Coors
McDonald’s
Meta
Nissan
Stanley Black & Decker
Target
Tractor Supply
Toyota
Walmart

Support who supports you ✨✊

This was such a well articulated diagnosis. The single paragraph take down of effective altruism was *chefs kiss*

The conclusions of the IPCC's 1.5C report: every action matters, every bit of warming matters.

Climate science never said "we only have 12 years until we fall off a cliff" - but sadly, many thought it did; and even more sadly, that misleading message fed right into the script for Trump's WEF remarks today.

Here's what the science has always said:

Came here to check on you 10 years after your pitchfork article! Seems the billionaires did not take heed.

Once corporations profit from hiding their harms, they buy the architecture of information: media, PR, lobbyists. Phase II of market failure isn't just obfuscation; it's systemic entrenchment. Phase III? We lose choices altogether.

Information Asymmetry and the Fall of Mainstream Media How the UnitedHealthCare shooting tipped the scales against establishment media

Information asymmetry isn't a market 'failure'—it's a feature of free market capitalism run amok. When companies successfully hide their harms, they thrive. Without the checks and balances of independent journalists or regulators, the system rewards exploitation.

open.substack.com/pub/spencerr...

Thank you for adding me and thank you for compiling this list!! So glad to see the migration away from X

Hi everyone, I’m a scientist and climate activist. I run a climate education/demonstration hub, Solar Punk Farms, with my husband.
I also work at the climate nonprofit One Earth where I help map financial flows across climate solutions.
Writing a book about my climate journey w/ Harper Collins.