And what do you do?

The first time you meet someone new it's hard to avoid making assumptions about them based on their age, their physical condition and how they're dressed. If you also happen to come from the same linguistic community, then as soon as they open their mouths and speak you'll also make assumptions about where they come from, their class and their level of education. Needless to say, some or all of these assumptions could be wrong. Finally comes the classic ice breaking question, one that I've been struggling with for some time, "and what do you do?"

The unspoken addition to this question is "for a living". How do you make your money? Are you a doctor, a lawyer, a butcher, a local government worker, a writer, an accountant, whatever.  At various times in the past I could have answered, medical researcher, teacher, law student, carbon analyst or, as I still put on my yearly tax return, because there are still one or two things that do bring in a bit of money, environmental consultant. But really, for the last decade or so, this question has left me floundering and I end up babbling about whatever project happens to have my attention at the time; few of which actually make any money.

So what do I do and why do I do it? Well now that I'm officially retired, in the sense that I can claim a very modest teacher's pension, it all feels a lot easier. Money no longer needs to play any part the answer.

The short answer is "things that I think need doing but which aren't happening", but this begs the further question of what these things are and, the one which I struggle with, why they aren't happening. So let's step back a bit and give this glib answer some roots.

Shortly after my 14th birthday Apollo 8 went around the moon and brought back what is arguably the most important image of all time.

Thank you NASA

There we are, all of us. A clearly finite blue and white ball, a mere speck in the wider Universe. Who, having seen that image could imagine that we could continue to plunder the Earth's resources as if they were without limit ? Well clearly there are plenty who can, but I couldn't.

Once this truth had been revealed I was unable to put it back. It might have been easier to ignore it if I'd been seduced by conventional dreams of money and success but my relationship with money has always been pragmatic, as long as you've got enough to have a roof over your head, keep reasonably warm, eat properly and still get hold of books to read then I really couldn't be bothered to chase after more. If shopping was the answer then you were probably asking the wrong question, if you needed money to demonstrate status then better to deal with the insecurity than go pointlessly chasing after more.

Whilst to many this might seem improbable, I drifted into Balliol College Oxford without any plans or expectations beyond doing whatever came next. Because I talked a lot at the interview I ended up studying Philosophy as well as Physics and, because I found myself captivated by a friend's textbooks on neurophysiology, I followed this up with a PhD in Physiology at the University of Bristol.  Later, after a short spell at University College London, found myself poking electrodes into mouse eggs at the University of Connecticut. Back in the UK, I trained to teach in further education and taught maths, physics and other bits of science for quite a few years until the old obsessions reasserted themselves, I gave up full time work and have been messing around ever since.

The first obsession was with energy, nature's currency. I could see that we were leading increasingly energy dependent lives but that little attention was being made to using it efficiently let alone using less and that if we carried on as we were then, within an historically short period - of the order of hundreds rather than thousands of years - we'd not only run out but would have caused dramatic environmental damage along the way. So, a lot of my often ineffective efforts have gone into trying to get people to recognise the nature of the problem and then to give them the basic knowledge needed to do something about it. If you compare current public policy with the very well established fact that to avoid the worst impacts of Climate Change we need to leave well over 60% of known fossil fuel reserves in the ground, you'll appreciate my disappointment in finding that we're not as rational as we'd like to think we are.

The second obsession, clearly linked to the first, has been with the quality of public space and how we can shift people out of motor cars, particularly for short journeys and back onto their feet or bicycles. Not only would this cut pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote equality (that's why its called public space because everyone can benefit) increase sociability, reduce social isolation but it would also help deal with the next major crisis on public health (after smoking and drinking) of physical inactivity.

If you look through my blog posts then, apart from the odd bit of whimsy, you'll find a host of posts dealing with these issues. I put them there not only so so that they're on public record but also so that I can poke public officials and others in their direction. Over the decades that I've been thinking about these issues they've become more prescient rather than less and more and more of my thinking has been going into the political, social and psychological barriers which prevent them from getting the political attention that they need. 

So, what do I do? This and that.

Why do I do it? Because I think it needs doing

Some links from the blog

Living in the real world : a talk to the Scarborough Rotarians on the history of the concept of energy

A redacted abuse of power : The one time carbon analyst exposes his CEO as a fraud. You can guess who lost his job.

Time travel: The great Ivan Illich was an enormous influence. Here's a short riff on his masterpiece Energy and Equity.

Market Failure : You can't make sensible decisions about energy efficiency unless you're well informed

Insulation and bicycles : key technologies to prevent Climate Change

The exception proves the rule : a brief dip into the psychology of littering

Ask a pejorative question  and Two wheels good : The real reasons why people are reluctant to get on their bikes

If it were a drug : The health benefits of becoming physically active

The cost of sitting around in North Yorkshire : Official figures are used to put a cost on physical inactivity in the County.

Seamer Road : A look at the problems faced by cyclists on a busy road in Scarborough

Taking the lane : When and why it's safest for cyclists to block traffic from getting past

Smooth enough for buggies and wheelchairs (wide enough to pass) : The simple things that are needed to bring the Cinder Track up to scratch.

The Cinder Track : Why we set up the Friends of the Old Railway

The politics of the sedentary : Does the modern political process favour the sedentary.

Addicts at the wheel : Car dependency and its influence on public policy

Are we active or not? : Trying to make sense of contradictory figures about physical activity levels in our area.