Mark Underhill

[Mark Underhill @underm]

@KathrynPorter26 @mattwridley Yes - and in Dorset today we are suffering multiple short outages which must be related.

[Mark Underhill @underm]

https://t.co/oh2M7ANWgi

[Mark Underhill @underm]

AI odd planting tip!
Google AI says "The planting depth depends on whether you are planting commercial flowers like Camassia or other commercial plants like sweet corn or sewage treatment plants."

[Mark Underhill @underm]

@Brink_Thinker Yes, they did. They had no idea where we were.

[Mark Underhill @underm]

Can Science Tell Us the Meaning of Life? https://t.co/tkUfN6TN3w

[Mark Underhill @underm]

Worth reading.

[Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ]

The reason the UK's elite class is so hostile to Elon Musk and other dissenters is because they can sense they are losing control of the narrative and the conversation.

We are simply no longer in a world where the national conversation and what is considered "true" can be controlled by the same groups of people --who come from the same backgrounds, have the same values, the same political loyalties, and want the same outcomes.

That era, when the elite class dominate what used to be the most important and influential institutions, is over. It is done. And, as @KonstantinKisin has rightly noted, it is never coming back. We are in a new era.

As I wrote in a book last year, many people in the West are rapidly giving up on "a national conversation" that no longer reflects their values, their voice, and which considers some groups in society, usually minority groups, to be more virtuous than others.

The elite class could have responded to this trend by opening themselves up; they chose to the opposite while also attacking anybody who questioned their consensus along the way.

This is why so many people are now flocking to new media --X, Substack, etc--all of which reflect how the game has changed, how the conversation has changed.

And this new media, crucially, is insulating counter-cultural writers and thinkers who are willing to take on the broken consensus, professionally and financially.

Were they still in the legacy institutions these counter-cultural voices would be harassed, bullied, intimidated, cancelled, shut down and silenced.

Just look at the amount of hostility I get from university academics or established columnists who think they have a right to control the national conversation, a palpable sense of entitlement. Well, they don't. And they can no longer control the conversation.

Because for the first time in history, we have a counter-cultural class, a counter-elite if you like, who are not only independent from the legacy institutions but are fully insulated and protected from those institutions.

And through their reach, influence, and power, they can wield just as much influence over the national conversation, if not more, as the traditional elite class.

So long as ordinary people are willing to support and spread these voices the game has completely changed.

The only people who have not realised this are the elite class, who even when they have tried to embrace new media have fundamentally misunderstood it.

Just look at the UK podcast circuit, the flagship shows. The same people. The same insiders. The same rotation of the same names who all cling to the same values but refuse to have any meaningful, serious, cross-cutting debate about possible alternatives.

And just look at the reaction to the protests. What much of the elite class, the elite conversation, considers "controversial" or "incendiary" views are entirely normal views out there in the country.

Everybody can see this which is why public confidence and trust in legacy institutions is collapsing. With a few notable exceptions, they refuse to open themselves up to alternative viewpoints and so are merely pushing more and more people to look elsewhere, hastening their own demise. Imagine for a moment if coverage of the UK riots and protests had only been available in legacy media. Imagine what that would have looked like.

This is why there are now two conversations going on in this country. What we might call the "approved", official narrative that you see on legacy media, which is promoted by the elite class and which, in my view, looks ridiculous and out-of-touch with the country.

As I said last night, if you really think what's happening in Britain right now is because of a coordinated social campaign being led by Tommy Robinson, Andrew Tate, and Elon Musk then you really need to reassess what you are reading and how you are living because you are completely disconnected from the country.

And what we might call the "unofficial" narrative that is largely playing out on new media and which despite being framed by the elite class as "misinformation" or "disinformation" is often grounded in reality. We can all watch the videos with our own eyes. We can all read. We are not idiots. We are not mindless lemmings.

There is no putting all this back in the box. Personally, I think the elite class in this country now has a choice. They can either engage with new media and open up the national conversation to alternative viewpoints or they can continue to double down, which in the end will only fuel the rise of alternative media, writers & thinkers.

So if you feel the elite conversation is no longer sufficient or needs to be radically reformed then obviously come and join us at https://t.co/xawYBQaQAZ but beyond that ensure you have a bunch of other counter-cultural perspectives in your timeline each day, and you are promoting alternative voices. Because now is the time to be doing that, not clinging to some outdated, narrow orthodoxy which has left millions of people feeling they have no voice in the conversation.

In other words, don't be a sheep.

[Mark Underhill @underm]

Worth reading
Live Not by Lies https://t.co/vYi9l0jY3g

[Mark Underhill @underm]

@Five_Talents NB I can't DM you. I wanted to push back on the assumption that climate change is causing more disasters, as the UN's own measures show they are declining. It's normal weather patterns - though hard for those affected. If we get the causes wrong the solutions wrong.

[Mark Underhill @underm]

@sthelenschurch This looks great

[Mark Underhill @underm]

We're trying out service translation https://t.co/jcTsu4DgJ2 at https://t.co/iXjxIjDKoY

[Mark Underhill @underm]

Great article by FSU on “a dark day for our democracy” https://t.co/QwRQ78PvSt

[Mark Underhill @underm]

When Does the Truth Become ‘Disinformation’? https://t.co/gxQoCd9IRh

[Jay Bhattacharya @DrJBhattacharya]

Some things I believe about the misinformation sciences, such as they are:

1. Everyone gets things wrong sometimes, especially about science.

2. Groups that police others for misinformation often get things wrong, especially when they invoke science. When they do, they often libel the people who are right.

3. Governments are a primary source of misinformation, especially about public health and science.

4. The academic discipline purporting to police disinformation selectively ignores government disinformation. As such, their primary purpose is to promote the propaganda of the powerful.

5. There is no shortcut for scientists arguing with each other to inch towards scientific truth.

6. Anyone or any group claiming to be the sole arbiter of scientific truth is very likely promoting propaganda.

[Mark Underhill @underm]

@LeeGatiss Agree. This is one of the best collects.

[Mark Underhill @underm]

The Single Line in Sir Patrick Vallance’s Diaries That Reveals the Faulty Reasoning Behind the Lockdown Fiasco https://t.co/CNjDNH54Li

[Mark Underhill @underm]

‘No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or disposed of, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any other way ruined, nor will we go against him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.’ Magna Carta laid a good foundation.

[Mark Underhill @underm]

Clear thinking on Imperial abuse of statistics https://t.co/EfbwIisnKK

[Mark Underhill @underm]

Great article on reputation   https://t.co/yzNGH3cet5

[Mark Underhill @underm]

@ichudov Using non-Peat compost uses more water esp as half the plants do not survive.