Notices by Chris Trottier (atomicpoet@mastodon.social), page 12

The Fediverse is a collection of messy, badly documented protocols.

But also: the Fediverse is actually decentralized and has momentum.

I have my gripes but acknowledge the Fediverse has big advantages.

The tech I'm building isn't ready. But what can we all use now? Mastodon, Matrix, Pleroma, Pixelfed, Peertube... I can go on.

Let's decentralize now instead of waiting for something better to come along in the future.

Let me confess something. For the past 5 years, I've been working on technologies to decentralize the web. There's been progress. I think what I'm working on will be better than current Fediverse apps. But they're not ready yet.

The Fediverse is not the best solution for decentralization. Yet, it is still a solution. More importantly, it's a solution that actually has momentum.

So I'm all in.

Shocking results from starting a new @pixelfed instance 🤯

So peerverse.space is 2 weeks old. Despite this, my new profile (@atomicpoet@peerverse.space) has achieved exposure similar to what I had on Instagram.

Key learnings 🧵 https://blog.peerverse.space/my-pixelfed-instance-is-a-bigger-success-than-i-could-ever-have-predicted/

@lightweight That's not what I'm saying at all.

What I'm explaining is that people are biased towards narratives, not facts. That's not my opinion, it's scientific fact (see article).

The trap that most people of an empiricist persuasion fall into is that they believe they are free from this bias. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds

@lightweight Well, here's an example for you. Neil DeGrasse Tyson regularly spreads historic myths. Galileo wasn't arrested for saying Earth orbits the Sun, but because he called the Pope something akin to a simpleton. But hey, it's a fun myth.

@dazinism @lightweight Dunning-Kruger Effect is real. Just because you're an expert in astrophysics doesn't mean you're an expert in sociology.

@lightweight The problem is not just beliefs, it's the human need to prize narrative over all else.

I've seen this with so-called rational people too. They buy into empiricism. They think their fidelity to empiricism makes them scientists. Anyone who doesn't buy into their empiricist views are the enemy.

@lightweight Here's another article for you. Great stories undermine strong facts. If people are presented with a compelling narrative, they'll believe that—facts be damned. Hence the rise of Q Anon. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190819082446.htm

@fribbledom I hated working in an open office. What I definitely don't miss is smelling everybody's farts.