It’s taken a while, but I’ve concluded that I can’t be an effective advocate for nuclear and radiological technology.
First and foremost, I am personally incompetent. I can’t get anything done, I’ve lost what project management capability I ever had, and in short, in attempting to understand the nuclear industry’s institutional culture, I’ve internalized it. That has spilled over into my life in general, and over the time that I’ve been a pro-nuclear activist, I have increasingly promised more and more things, failed to deliver on time or with the promised capabilities, and quietly abandoned it all once it was clear that the conditions that would have made those things desirable were gone. Even worse, since I’m politically tone-deaf and clearly do not fit in here, when I open my mouth, people are more likely to go in the direction opposite the one I advocate. I am not an asset here.
Second, the whole sector is circling the drain. There is no capability present to do what we need to do. Therefore, even if I were doing more good than harm by advocating the program of action regarding advocacy which I have repeatedly advocated, there would be no way to actually do any of it. And, since I’m a very poor politician, in advocating this program of action, I’ve come off as criticizing the pro-nuclear community, and alienated the people I needed to reach. So I’ve lost any influence I ever had, which was probably never much. I could go back to blogging, but I’ve long ago figured out that this fixed format doesn’t work well for people who are under attack from a Gish Gallop - there’s no way for people who are new to the issue to access the information topically. I could expand on that point, and others, but nobody would listen, so why bother?
So I’ll go somewhere else and do something else. What, I don’t know. This site will stay up until August, then disappear. If anyone wants the domain so that it doesn’t get taken over by Russian spammers, email me.
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Posted on December 22, 2009 by Stewart Peterson |
Get a grip on yourself soldier. This thing is bigger than you. The electron still spins and produces magnetism. So stop your whining and end this pitiful pity party and continue to be a productive advocate. <slap?
This debate is absolutely bigger than me. It’s gotten along fine without me for a couple of years and will continue to do so.
Your reaction to that post is precisely the type of reaction that means that I am not a productive advocate, and cannot be. I have no persuasive ability and no credibility.
I’m not looking for “pity,” from you or anyone else. This isn’t whining, it’s just the facts of the matter. And by the way - you’re not in charge of what I do. You may be in the military, “soldier,” but I am sure as hell not. Don’t act like it.
You might not be a competitive propagandist (hell if i know what it is) but AT VERY LEAST a really decent relevant data archivist imho.
coldatom -
Thanks for the kind words, but if it’s not systematic or in a retrieval system, all the data in the world would be of limited operational use. Blogging software doesn’t allow the kind of flexibility needed to create a retrieval system, as such. Perhaps a better advocate than I could put one to good use if a better programmer than I could write one, but what I can do here would not help, even if done properly.
I’m attempting a systems analysis of such a retrieval system, as far as a “brain dump” goes, and copies of it will go to other pro-nuclear advocates, who might or might not choose to use it. But, basically, I think that’s all I’ll be able to do.