1 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:15,380 Hello world, I'm Tomasino. 2 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,480 This is SolarPunk Prompts, 3 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:20,760 a series for writers where we discuss solar punk, 4 00:00:21,100 --> 00:00:24,320 a movement that imagines a world where technology is used 5 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:25,260 for the good of the planet. 6 00:00:25,900 --> 00:00:29,720 In this series we spent each episode exploring a single 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,520 solar punk story prompt, adding some commentary, 8 00:00:33,140 --> 00:00:35,080 inspirations, and considerations. 9 00:00:36,420 --> 00:00:37,040 Most importantly, 10 00:00:37,380 --> 00:00:40,680 we consider how that story might help us better envision a 11 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:41,780 sustainable civilization. 12 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:44,120 If this is your first time here, 13 00:00:44,660 --> 00:00:47,440 I'd recommend checking out our introduction episode first. 14 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:50,260 That's where we talk about what solar punk is, 15 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:53,380 why should care, and why this series came into being. 16 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,100 Today's prompt is, The Archivists. 17 00:00:59,180 --> 00:01:02,060 A community of archivists, cartographers, 18 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:07,120 or wikipedia's is fighting to save as much unwritten lore 19 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,200 and knowledge as they can before the old generation passes 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:11,600 away. 21 00:01:12,260 --> 00:01:15,220 They're not hired by any organization or university, 22 00:01:15,700 --> 00:01:19,220 but connected by their love for the folktales and belief 23 00:01:19,220 --> 00:01:22,820 that the natural medicine might be worth researching today. 24 00:01:25,020 --> 00:01:28,060 Today's prompt is concerned with a loss of local and 25 00:01:28,060 --> 00:01:31,200 indigenous knowledge, a form of cultural memory. 26 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:33,700 When most people think of archival work, 27 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,340 the mind goes to literature or archaeology, 28 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,540 or in more modern times we talk about archiving internet 29 00:01:39,540 --> 00:01:42,160 content before it's lost to the ravages of time. 30 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,580 But this type of cultural loss can happen incredibly 31 00:01:45,580 --> 00:01:48,080 quickly and be devastating to communities. 32 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:50,320 First of all, 33 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:55,220 UNESCO defines local and indigenous knowledge to be the 34 00:01:55,220 --> 00:01:56,520 understanding, skills, 35 00:01:56,980 --> 00:02:00,600 and philosophies developed by societies with long histories 36 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:02,580 of interaction with their natural surroundings. 37 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:03,020 We'll see you in the next video. 38 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,220 For rural and indigenous peoples, 39 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,000 local knowledge informs decision -making about fundamental 40 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:10,860 aspects of day -to -day life. 41 00:02:11,660 --> 00:02:17,280 Decision -making based along long cultural interaction with 42 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,440 the local environment is like a magical potion of pure 43 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:21,640 bottled solar punk. 44 00:02:22,100 --> 00:02:25,380 Yet this is rarely the recipe we think of when considering 45 00:02:25,380 --> 00:02:25,960 the future. 46 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,040 Chi Lu writes in JSTOR's Daily, 47 00:02:31,860 --> 00:02:35,000 Is there really only one way to build a modern society, 48 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:37,680 one based on Western ideology, 49 00:02:38,580 --> 00:02:41,200 with progress through constant growth and consumption? 50 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,840 Is there only one kind of science we can use to truly 51 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:46,840 understand the world? 52 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,820 There's hardly an indigenous culture surviving that does 53 00:02:50,820 --> 00:02:54,760 not struggle to preserve their traditional language and 54 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:56,840 knowledge against the overwhelming, 55 00:02:57,180 --> 00:03:00,100 homogenizing influences of Western colonialism. 56 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,860 When knowledge does not take the scientific forms we've 57 00:03:04,860 --> 00:03:07,440 come to expect from academic research, it's rejected. 58 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,860 But that's due to an unthinking bias about what value 59 00:03:11,860 --> 00:03:13,480 traditional knowledge has to offer. 60 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,480 If it isn't in the form of a scientific report or paper, 61 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:19,880 but it's delivered in the form of a story, 62 00:03:20,540 --> 00:03:24,200 it's regarded as unscientific and anecdotal folklore, 63 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,280 no matter what new information is being conveyed. 64 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:30,040 In our story, 65 00:03:30,300 --> 00:03:32,920 we have a community of people trying to hold on to that 66 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:33,300 knowledge. 67 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,740 But knowing about these inherent biases from Western 68 00:03:36,740 --> 00:03:37,940 colonial influence, 69 00:03:38,500 --> 00:03:41,040 we could imagine the opposition that might face. 70 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:44,820 Is this the best use of community resources? 71 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,560 Shouldn't we be focused on the scientific studies? 72 00:03:48,660 --> 00:03:51,740 Philip over there has found old manuals for tractor repair, 73 00:03:52,260 --> 00:03:53,980 put your effort into decoding those. 74 00:03:55,180 --> 00:03:58,520 But one can imagine a high stakes conflict between the 75 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,520 people who want to archive every scrap of dying knowledge 76 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,780 versus people who want to use the libraries to educate and 77 00:04:05,780 --> 00:04:07,200 help stop further disasters. 78 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,120 In the true solar -punk way of internal conflict, 79 00:04:11,340 --> 00:04:14,120 both parties are working toward the same positive ends for 80 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:14,680 the community, 81 00:04:14,900 --> 00:04:17,680 but have very different ideas of how it should be done. 82 00:04:18,980 --> 00:04:22,320 Whether our archivists are facing internal conflict or not, 83 00:04:22,660 --> 00:04:25,040 there's also the question of how the work is being done. 84 00:04:25,820 --> 00:04:27,080 Is there collaboration? 85 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:30,760 Is there technology being put to the purpose for the 86 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:31,680 benefit of the community? 87 00:04:32,980 --> 00:04:36,400 There are very few pieces of fiction showcasing Wikipedia 88 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:37,720 or similar efforts, 89 00:04:38,100 --> 00:04:41,600 and there are even fewer that showcase the drama that can 90 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,780 unfold in these spaces where everyone is trying to write 91 00:04:44,780 --> 00:04:46,260 down knowledge without bias. 92 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,760 When everyone has the ability to edit everyone else's work, 93 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,200 and there is no one to step in and claim authority, 94 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:56,100 arguments get heated. 95 00:04:57,820 --> 00:05:02,040 And perhaps people viciously typing at one another isn't 96 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,520 the greatest visual storytelling, 97 00:05:03,780 --> 00:05:06,580 but that type of engagement can come to life in many forms 98 00:05:06,580 --> 00:05:07,540 with a bit of imagination. 99 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:11,280 Perhaps the Wikipedia of the future involves a shared 100 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:12,060 physical space. 101 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:18,140 Our archivists are impassioned individuals doing this from 102 00:05:18,140 --> 00:05:19,600 love, not from assignment. 103 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:22,960 They may take challenges to their work personally too. 104 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:26,840 I should mention one fascinating thing about Wikipedia 105 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:27,220 here. 106 00:05:27,220 --> 00:05:31,160 It's a piece of cultural infrastructure and it's sexy as 107 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:31,360 hell. 108 00:05:32,300 --> 00:05:35,300 I'm referring of course to our second guide to solar punk 109 00:05:35,300 --> 00:05:36,800 that infrastructure is sexy. 110 00:05:37,620 --> 00:05:41,460 What's utterly fascinating to me is that Wikipedia as an 111 00:05:41,460 --> 00:05:45,220 idea is completely incompatible with cyberpunk. 112 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,400 There's no place in that vision of technological oppression 113 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,500 for a community -contributed repository of knowledge, 114 00:05:52,740 --> 00:05:54,320 simply for the betterment of humanity. 115 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:57,680 Wikipedia is a hundred percent solar punk. 116 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:00,660 But let's get back to our prompt again. 117 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,980 What are some ways we can frame the prompt, 118 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,120 which would give us a unique perspective on the effort? 119 00:06:07,780 --> 00:06:11,200 If the effort to archive this information isn't creating 120 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,800 the conflict itself, perhaps it comes from outside. 121 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,980 If someone from a very different culture or community saw 122 00:06:17,980 --> 00:06:19,700 or heard the stories of these people, 123 00:06:20,180 --> 00:06:21,620 it might be their misunderstanding. 124 00:06:22,860 --> 00:06:26,500 When they hear a fable or a micro -story setting designed 125 00:06:26,500 --> 00:06:28,000 to educate by allegory, 126 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,740 the listener may hear literal things which offend, confuse, 127 00:06:32,260 --> 00:06:32,600 or threaten. 128 00:06:33,260 --> 00:06:35,020 How would they handle that interpretation? 129 00:06:36,100 --> 00:06:38,640 How would the community try to settle the issue? 130 00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:43,640 Or perhaps conflict is more than needed for this story. 131 00:06:44,180 --> 00:06:47,520 Maybe it's a personal journey of a child who doesn't 132 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,540 understand the value of the old ones. 133 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,280 It's a lesson in a lesson when the children are given a 134 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:56,400 project to write about their family history. 135 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,340 Perhaps we can even mash up some of these ideas too. 136 00:07:01,220 --> 00:07:04,800 What if the children aren't to create an essay but to enter 137 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,200 their family history into a community wiki? 138 00:07:07,820 --> 00:07:10,040 Is this the teachers doing? 139 00:07:10,700 --> 00:07:13,520 Or do we have another opportunity to show off the amazing 140 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:14,440 power of librarians? 141 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,920 This community may teach the children to research, 142 00:07:18,580 --> 00:07:20,700 to archive, to do science, to investigate, 143 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:22,800 and to share that information with everyone. 144 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,100 Their greatest act of service to one another may be open 145 00:07:27,100 --> 00:07:27,980 source knowledge. 146 00:07:28,940 --> 00:07:33,500 Open source knowledge is absolutely a gift, 147 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:36,940 and one of the best possible things we can give to each 148 00:07:36,940 --> 00:07:37,460 other today. 149 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,700 Just like we must unlearn the false devaluing of cultural 150 00:07:41,700 --> 00:07:42,240 knowledge, 151 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,100 we must also release the idea of science as belonging to 152 00:07:46,100 --> 00:07:46,660 the scientist. 153 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:48,700 Citizen science. 154 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,420 Citizen research provides invaluable data to the world. 155 00:07:53,300 --> 00:07:56,300 Take the tsunami at Fukushima and the nuclear disaster 156 00:07:56,300 --> 00:07:57,160 which followed. 157 00:07:57,940 --> 00:08:00,580 There was little to no data on the radiation levels in 158 00:08:00,580 --> 00:08:01,340 local areas. 159 00:08:01,340 --> 00:08:03,600 Only and mass across the whole region. 160 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,340 That lack of knowledge, limited movement, 161 00:08:06,540 --> 00:08:07,620 and insight into the region, 162 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,620 and public fear led to massive requests and supply issues 163 00:08:11,620 --> 00:08:12,400 for Geiger counters. 164 00:08:13,260 --> 00:08:16,180 An industry went from selling five machines a month to 165 00:08:16,180 --> 00:08:17,800 requests for a thousand a day. 166 00:08:18,980 --> 00:08:21,560 Then a non -profit stepped in, Safecast, 167 00:08:22,020 --> 00:08:23,700 who were testing their new handheld, 168 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,060 a compact plastic box housed on our Dweeno board, a GPS, 169 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:31,760 a data logger, and a tiny Geiger. 170 00:08:32,580 --> 00:08:34,020 The device's job was simple. 171 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:36,840 Replace the need for manual data logging. 172 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,840 Replace the need for data aggregation, cleanup, assembly, 173 00:08:41,140 --> 00:08:41,580 and so on. 174 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:44,500 Just record all the data in real time and report it back 175 00:08:44,500 --> 00:08:45,120 home immediately. 176 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:46,860 Every five seconds. 177 00:08:47,700 --> 00:08:50,760 It was also designed to be used by everyday people. 178 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:52,020 In a month, 179 00:08:52,620 --> 00:08:55,060 they put together over 18 million data points worldwide, 180 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:56,200 not just in Japan. 181 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,060 That data revealed that the evacuation routes in the 182 00:09:00,060 --> 00:09:02,540 Fukushima area were wrong and needed to be adjusted. 183 00:09:03,260 --> 00:09:05,220 And what of that data? 184 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,280 Was it hoarded as a proprietary company information to be 185 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:10,280 licensed for a fee? 186 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:11,500 No. 187 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:14,500 It's completely open to all and free. 188 00:09:15,620 --> 00:09:17,780 Oh, and so is the hardware. 189 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:20,800 The specs are free and the components are off the shelf. 190 00:09:21,660 --> 00:09:23,720 Anyone could build one and start collecting data, 191 00:09:23,900 --> 00:09:26,460 which also goes right into that open data set. 192 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,040 Citizen science is powerful stuff, 193 00:09:30,540 --> 00:09:33,560 whether it's tracking radiation or saving a cultural 194 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:34,080 language. 195 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,980 The Tlingit people of southeastern Alaska and western 196 00:09:38,980 --> 00:09:40,760 Canada faced a problem. 197 00:09:41,660 --> 00:09:42,660 In 2007, 198 00:09:42,740 --> 00:09:45,560 research reported that there were fewer than 500 speakers 199 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:47,020 of the language left in the world, 200 00:09:47,540 --> 00:09:49,400 and many of them were of advanced age. 201 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,100 By 2014, there were only two speakers in all of Canada. 202 00:09:54,540 --> 00:09:57,680 Warning bells were sounded and the total number quickly 203 00:09:57,680 --> 00:09:59,060 dropped to 200. 204 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:00,980 The C. 205 00:10:01,020 --> 00:10:04,820 Laska Heritage Institute knew they wanted to do something 206 00:10:04,820 --> 00:10:07,640 to stem the tide and save the language and culture it 207 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:07,960 represented. 208 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,120 They spent years and years collecting audio, 209 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:14,140 often by literally recording conversations with elders. 210 00:10:15,020 --> 00:10:18,340 Then came painstaking efforts to edit, program, 211 00:10:18,700 --> 00:10:20,120 and construct something tangible. 212 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:22,080 Finally, in 2016, 213 00:10:22,500 --> 00:10:24,980 they released two free apps to learn the language. 214 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,340 Were those apps and materials collected all freely 215 00:10:28,340 --> 00:10:28,800 available? 216 00:10:29,660 --> 00:10:31,340 Language courses have begun as well. 217 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:33,260 With any luck, 218 00:10:33,780 --> 00:10:36,680 those citizen scientists will save their language. 219 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:40,960 And as difficult as it may be to think about, 220 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:43,840 if they failed in their primary mission, 221 00:10:44,620 --> 00:10:47,720 those recordings may be all that's left of the Tlingit 222 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:48,020 tongue. 223 00:10:49,140 --> 00:10:52,380 The spoken language of an entire tribe, gone, 224 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:55,660 reduced to a few MP3s on a hard drive. 225 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,140 you That. 226 00:10:59,180 --> 00:11:00,220 That feeling right there? 227 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,500 That's why your archivists are doing their work. 228 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,420 Nobody had to hire them to do it. 229 00:11:07,340 --> 00:11:09,840 Now the hard part is for you. 230 00:11:10,700 --> 00:11:12,900 How do you put that feeling into words? 231 00:11:14,380 --> 00:11:17,380 Until next time, I'm Tomasino. 232 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,600 I hope you'll join me for the next Solar Pump Prompt. 233 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:26,340 Music in this recording is Sky Forest by Cyber Surfer 3D 234 00:11:26,340 --> 00:11:29,640 from Global Patterns Compilation, Solar Pump, 235 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:31,160 a brighter perspective.