Matt Berkley
@mattberkley.bsky.social
Sentientism, food policy for desired/anticipated consumption patterns, plant-based for climate, consumption behaviour, history and reporting of global goals, framing.
Pinned
Matt Berkley
@mattberkley.bsky.social
· Jan 20
A proposal for
Animal welfare including human health
Climate
Environment
Biodiversity
Economy
Governments provide free nutritional supplements (eg B12, DHA, EPA) and/or mandate fortification of foods
- to improve health and reduce cravings when people reduce/eliminate animal products from diet.
Animal welfare including human health
Climate
Environment
Biodiversity
Economy
Governments provide free nutritional supplements (eg B12, DHA, EPA) and/or mandate fortification of foods
- to improve health and reduce cravings when people reduce/eliminate animal products from diet.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
I suggest the word "killstock" instead of "livestock" where the intention is killing.
October 3, 2025 at 1:39 PM
I suggest the word "killstock" instead of "livestock" where the intention is killing.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
A sensible response to the climate/habitat destruction/environment crises by governments would seem to me to include a big effort on creative ways to help people realise that their lives can be more fulfilling without overconsumption.
October 11, 2025 at 2:26 PM
A sensible response to the climate/habitat destruction/environment crises by governments would seem to me to include a big effort on creative ways to help people realise that their lives can be more fulfilling without overconsumption.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
How many universities are teaching correctly on the basis of
- what the UN resolutions actually say,
rather than wrongly on the basis of
- what civil servants and politicians have claimed about global goals?
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
- what the UN resolutions actually say,
rather than wrongly on the basis of
- what civil servants and politicians have claimed about global goals?
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
Draft comments on public claims
web.archive.org
November 22, 2025 at 8:35 AM
How many universities are teaching correctly on the basis of
- what the UN resolutions actually say,
rather than wrongly on the basis of
- what civil servants and politicians have claimed about global goals?
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
- what the UN resolutions actually say,
rather than wrongly on the basis of
- what civil servants and politicians have claimed about global goals?
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
Reposted by Matt Berkley
Let's take a little time to consider what Trump and his allies may be doing behind the scenes, in the form for instance of instructions to agencies on surveillance.
February 11, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Let's take a little time to consider what Trump and his allies may be doing behind the scenes, in the form for instance of instructions to agencies on surveillance.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
As with climate disturbance, uncertainty provides a good argument to take more action, not less.
Our new paper led by @manusaunders.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... takes stock of the evidence-base for global insect declines 🦋🐝🪳🪰🦗 and how uncertainty is being leveraged by science denialists to undermine efforts to reverse biodiversity loss 🌍🧪.
February 11, 2025 at 1:34 PM
As with climate disturbance, uncertainty provides a good argument to take more action, not less.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
If the BBC chose to mislead the public that they were hearing the whole lecture:
That is very poor, and a bad sign of an aspect of the culture at least among some at the BBC.
If it did not occur to those in charge that they would mislead the public:
Ditto.
That is very poor, and a bad sign of an aspect of the culture at least among some at the BBC.
If it did not occur to those in charge that they would mislead the public:
Ditto.
November 25, 2025 at 7:08 PM
If the BBC chose to mislead the public that they were hearing the whole lecture:
That is very poor, and a bad sign of an aspect of the culture at least among some at the BBC.
If it did not occur to those in charge that they would mislead the public:
Ditto.
That is very poor, and a bad sign of an aspect of the culture at least among some at the BBC.
If it did not occur to those in charge that they would mislead the public:
Ditto.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
In 2014-15 the BBC received detailed complaints that it falsely claimed the UN Millennium Declaration target on children's survival, among other targets, had an easier 1990 baseline.
It continued.
No-one resigned.
web.archive.org/web/20240226...
web.archive.org/web/20240303...
It continued.
No-one resigned.
web.archive.org/web/20240226...
web.archive.org/web/20240303...
web.archive.org
November 9, 2025 at 8:19 PM
In 2014-15 the BBC received detailed complaints that it falsely claimed the UN Millennium Declaration target on children's survival, among other targets, had an easier 1990 baseline.
It continued.
No-one resigned.
web.archive.org/web/20240226...
web.archive.org/web/20240303...
It continued.
No-one resigned.
web.archive.org/web/20240226...
web.archive.org/web/20240303...
Reposted by Matt Berkley
Precise or definite-sounding climate predictions intended to alert people, obscuring the uncertainty, may paradoxically reassure people into doing less because they do not understand the real inadequacy of science to predict complex systems.
February 11, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Precise or definite-sounding climate predictions intended to alert people, obscuring the uncertainty, may paradoxically reassure people into doing less because they do not understand the real inadequacy of science to predict complex systems.
Humans are poking Nature's chaos.
Watch a good NASA visualisation, within this article: it shows one aspect of why "we live on a dynamic plantet, that is constantly in motion."
theconversation.com/sea-level-do...
theconversation.com/sea-level-do...
Sea level doesn’t rise at the same rate everywhere – we mapped where Antarctica’s ice melt would have the biggest impact
Understanding what happens to Antarctica’s ice matters, because as it melts, sea levels rise, affecting lives and economies around the world.
theconversation.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Humans are poking Nature's chaos.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
For the BBC to say "this is an edited version of the lecture" would be one thing.
To present the censored version as if it is the whole lecture is not only censorship, but adds another layer of deception in public statements about the broadcast.
To present the censored version as if it is the whole lecture is not only censorship, but adds another layer of deception in public statements about the broadcast.
November 25, 2025 at 2:01 PM
For the BBC to say "this is an edited version of the lecture" would be one thing.
To present the censored version as if it is the whole lecture is not only censorship, but adds another layer of deception in public statements about the broadcast.
To present the censored version as if it is the whole lecture is not only censorship, but adds another layer of deception in public statements about the broadcast.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
We can view this edit by BBC management - and misleading presentation of the censored version as the full lecture - in the context of the BBC treating the edit of the Trump speech as a highly serious matter.
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
November 25, 2025 at 3:06 PM
We can view this edit by BBC management - and misleading presentation of the censored version as the full lecture - in the context of the BBC treating the edit of the Trump speech as a highly serious matter.
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
The BBC spliced two recordings from a speech together, making it sound like the part in the middle didn't exist?
Does that sound familiar?
Does that sound familiar?
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 1:43 PM
The BBC spliced two recordings from a speech together, making it sound like the part in the middle didn't exist?
Does that sound familiar?
Does that sound familiar?
Reposted by Matt Berkley
If we also consider the unpredictability of effects on temperatures of
sudden changes in ocean currents,
huge wildfires driven by higher temperatures, and
melting permafrost,
what level of trust is reasonable in claims to predict global temperatures for 10, 25 or 75 years' time?
sudden changes in ocean currents,
huge wildfires driven by higher temperatures, and
melting permafrost,
what level of trust is reasonable in claims to predict global temperatures for 10, 25 or 75 years' time?
"Climate "predictions" are unreliable, as they are based on assumptions about largely unpredictable weather - in temperatures with largely unpredictable effects: in particular, the natures, extents, timings, locations, altitudes, reflectance and heat-trapping effects of cloud cover."
Is that fair?
Is that fair?
November 22, 2025 at 10:27 AM
If we also consider the unpredictability of effects on temperatures of
sudden changes in ocean currents,
huge wildfires driven by higher temperatures, and
melting permafrost,
what level of trust is reasonable in claims to predict global temperatures for 10, 25 or 75 years' time?
sudden changes in ocean currents,
huge wildfires driven by higher temperatures, and
melting permafrost,
what level of trust is reasonable in claims to predict global temperatures for 10, 25 or 75 years' time?
Reposted by Matt Berkley
In a field where evidence suggests that a high proportion of papers have serious flaws, a database of "potentially important" papers which appear *not* to have serious flaws might be useful, as well as identifying those that do.
November 9, 2025 at 10:36 AM
In a field where evidence suggests that a high proportion of papers have serious flaws, a database of "potentially important" papers which appear *not* to have serious flaws might be useful, as well as identifying those that do.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
We can ask when citation is justified, and also what is justifiable to say about the earlier work when citing it.
Should researchers note a general apparent level of reliability/unreliability within the field, or which papers they have checked for comments on post-publication peer review sites?
Should researchers note a general apparent level of reliability/unreliability within the field, or which papers they have checked for comments on post-publication peer review sites?
November 10, 2025 at 1:08 AM
We can ask when citation is justified, and also what is justifiable to say about the earlier work when citing it.
Should researchers note a general apparent level of reliability/unreliability within the field, or which papers they have checked for comments on post-publication peer review sites?
Should researchers note a general apparent level of reliability/unreliability within the field, or which papers they have checked for comments on post-publication peer review sites?
Reposted by Matt Berkley
"Adding up some domestic emissions that your largely service economy causes and going on about "net zero"
without
telling people each time what you are talking about
is a bit like
paying your poorer neighbour to burn your rubbish and implying you haven't caused any smoke."
Is that fair?
without
telling people each time what you are talking about
is a bit like
paying your poorer neighbour to burn your rubbish and implying you haven't caused any smoke."
Is that fair?
Let's reject the UK Government's misleading frame "Net Zero" and call it
"Territorial* Net Zero".
The fact that countries report TNZ to the UN doesn't mean the UK has to focus on what may (soon?) be only half its contributions to greenhouse gases, misleading on progress.
* or similar. Domestic?
"Territorial* Net Zero".
The fact that countries report TNZ to the UN doesn't mean the UK has to focus on what may (soon?) be only half its contributions to greenhouse gases, misleading on progress.
* or similar. Domestic?
November 14, 2025 at 8:15 PM
"Adding up some domestic emissions that your largely service economy causes and going on about "net zero"
without
telling people each time what you are talking about
is a bit like
paying your poorer neighbour to burn your rubbish and implying you haven't caused any smoke."
Is that fair?
without
telling people each time what you are talking about
is a bit like
paying your poorer neighbour to burn your rubbish and implying you haven't caused any smoke."
Is that fair?
Reposted by Matt Berkley
I'm wondering if academic papers might usefully include a "Due Diligence Declaration" to the effect that authors have taken reasonable, perhaps for some purposes specified, steps to try to ensure both their own work and the work they cite are adequate.
October 20, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I'm wondering if academic papers might usefully include a "Due Diligence Declaration" to the effect that authors have taken reasonable, perhaps for some purposes specified, steps to try to ensure both their own work and the work they cite are adequate.
If we also consider the unpredictability of effects on temperatures of
sudden changes in ocean currents,
huge wildfires driven by higher temperatures, and
melting permafrost,
what level of trust is reasonable in claims to predict global temperatures for 10, 25 or 75 years' time?
sudden changes in ocean currents,
huge wildfires driven by higher temperatures, and
melting permafrost,
what level of trust is reasonable in claims to predict global temperatures for 10, 25 or 75 years' time?
"Climate "predictions" are unreliable, as they are based on assumptions about largely unpredictable weather - in temperatures with largely unpredictable effects: in particular, the natures, extents, timings, locations, altitudes, reflectance and heat-trapping effects of cloud cover."
Is that fair?
Is that fair?
November 22, 2025 at 10:27 AM
If we also consider the unpredictability of effects on temperatures of
sudden changes in ocean currents,
huge wildfires driven by higher temperatures, and
melting permafrost,
what level of trust is reasonable in claims to predict global temperatures for 10, 25 or 75 years' time?
sudden changes in ocean currents,
huge wildfires driven by higher temperatures, and
melting permafrost,
what level of trust is reasonable in claims to predict global temperatures for 10, 25 or 75 years' time?
"Climate "predictions" are unreliable, as they are based on assumptions about largely unpredictable weather - in temperatures with largely unpredictable effects: in particular, the natures, extents, timings, locations, altitudes, reflectance and heat-trapping effects of cloud cover."
Is that fair?
Is that fair?
November 22, 2025 at 10:19 AM
"Climate "predictions" are unreliable, as they are based on assumptions about largely unpredictable weather - in temperatures with largely unpredictable effects: in particular, the natures, extents, timings, locations, altitudes, reflectance and heat-trapping effects of cloud cover."
Is that fair?
Is that fair?
School exam papers, academics, Oxford Reference books and others mislead the public on UN goals
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
Draft comments on public claims
web.archive.org
November 22, 2025 at 8:39 AM
School exam papers, academics, Oxford Reference books and others mislead the public on UN goals
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
How many universities are teaching correctly on the basis of
- what the UN resolutions actually say,
rather than wrongly on the basis of
- what civil servants and politicians have claimed about global goals?
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
- what the UN resolutions actually say,
rather than wrongly on the basis of
- what civil servants and politicians have claimed about global goals?
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
Draft comments on public claims
web.archive.org
November 22, 2025 at 8:35 AM
How many universities are teaching correctly on the basis of
- what the UN resolutions actually say,
rather than wrongly on the basis of
- what civil servants and politicians have claimed about global goals?
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
- what the UN resolutions actually say,
rather than wrongly on the basis of
- what civil servants and politicians have claimed about global goals?
web.archive.org/web/20221026...
Reposted by Matt Berkley
I'm envisaging a diagram of the argument, with % confidence labelled by the authors for every step.
November 20, 2025 at 5:55 AM
I'm envisaging a diagram of the argument, with % confidence labelled by the authors for every step.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
Perhaps what is commonly the earliest stage of research could also benefit from the kinds of thing we are talking about here - the stage of making choices to rely on existing work when deciding what to research.
If people have better heuristics to avoid dodgy literature, that might help.
If people have better heuristics to avoid dodgy literature, that might help.
November 20, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Perhaps what is commonly the earliest stage of research could also benefit from the kinds of thing we are talking about here - the stage of making choices to rely on existing work when deciding what to research.
If people have better heuristics to avoid dodgy literature, that might help.
If people have better heuristics to avoid dodgy literature, that might help.
Reposted by Matt Berkley
Could science improve through scientists, and others, taking a more realistic and selective approach to citing research - more cautious and taking into account factors inckuding a field's lack of known reliability?
Can guidelines on this help?
bsky.app/profile/matt...
Can guidelines on this help?
bsky.app/profile/matt...
The Stockholm Declaration seems very good but omits a key, immediate issue:
In fields where evidence suggests a high proportion of seriously flawed papers, what should scientists and others do and say as regards trusting, citing and/or building on previous research?
bsky.app/profile/matt...
In fields where evidence suggests a high proportion of seriously flawed papers, what should scientists and others do and say as regards trusting, citing and/or building on previous research?
bsky.app/profile/matt...
November 20, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Reposted by Matt Berkley
How far are rules for this teachable/transferable?
Is it often largely a matter of judgement which combines, for example, knowing about flaws within subfields, in particular journals or types of journal, from particular institutions, and/or particular methods?
What is the role of intuition here?
Is it often largely a matter of judgement which combines, for example, knowing about flaws within subfields, in particular journals or types of journal, from particular institutions, and/or particular methods?
What is the role of intuition here?
November 10, 2025 at 1:19 AM
How far are rules for this teachable/transferable?
Is it often largely a matter of judgement which combines, for example, knowing about flaws within subfields, in particular journals or types of journal, from particular institutions, and/or particular methods?
What is the role of intuition here?
Is it often largely a matter of judgement which combines, for example, knowing about flaws within subfields, in particular journals or types of journal, from particular institutions, and/or particular methods?
What is the role of intuition here?