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COMMENT
An unpalatable truth
Shying away from the realities of climate change, such as the need
to eat less meat, hinders our ability to tackle it, says Adam Corner
IF WE’RE to get climate change nations such as the UK tend
under control, the recent to see climate change as a
Intergovernmental Panel on “psychologically distant” risk: not
Climate Change report makes it here, and not now. As a political
clear that absolutely everything issue, it struggles to compete
must be on the table. with more immediate concerns
This includes lifestyle changes like insecure employment or
such as flying less and cutting immigration.
down on red meat. Adding to the public’s sense
Yet Claire Perry, the minister in of disconnect, warnings of
charge of the UK’s climate change apocalyptic futures have been
strategy, doesn’t see it this way. paired with “simple and painless”
She described the idea of behavioural changes, like reusing
government telling us what to eat plastic bags and banning straws.
on climate grounds as “the worst The research my colleagues and
sort of nanny state ever”, adding: I do is designed to address these
“Who would I be to sit there problems. One clear lesson from
advising people in the country this research is that it is crucial
coming home after a hard day of to talk about climate change in
work to not have steak and chips?” the here and now, linking shifts
Perry’s reluctance to ask us to in the weather to tangible and
change also says something meaningful actions that people
important about why public can take to cut carbon.
engagement on climate change What’s more, most people find
has not been straightforward. it easier to think about their own
People in wealthy, industrialised health than that of the planet, so
In overdrive deadlines. In reality, it ruins lives code works. Raluca Gaina at Queen
and destroys relationships, and it
Mary University of London is
has been doing so for decades.
game automatically and then
Given that tech firms hoover up working on AI that can play any
Overwork shouldn’t be a fact of life in the some of the smartest minds on report back on its experience.
the planet, you would think they In the 1930s, economist John
tech sector, says Michael Cook could find a better way. Maynard Keynes predicted that
My research field, artificial increasing automation would
intelligence for games, is mean a 15-hour working week by
ROCKSTAR Games, the renowned staff had been working 100-hour exploding right now with just the about now. In reality, it seems that
developer behind the Grand Theft weeks to get the game finished. tools to help. Ceptre, the creation when we can make things easier,
Auto series, has been hard at work He later clarified that such efforts of US researcher Chris Martens, the resulting time savings aren’t
promoting its latest digital epic, were a “choice” made by staff. is a mathematical language for passed on to the worker.
the cowboy-simulator Red Dead Overwork is treated as a fact automatically checking that game If we make it simpler to create
Redemption 2. It is set to be one of of life in the tech sector. Watch a the 300,000 animations in Red
the biggest releases of 2018, but it film about a plucky tech start-up “ It seems that when we can Dead Redemption 2, say, will
comes at a cost. and you will see people chugging make things easier, the Rockstar simply want 600,000
An interview given by Rockstar energy drinks and working time savings aren’t passed animations for the sequel? If we
co-founder Dan Houser revealed through the night to meet on to the worker” help designers and developers to
24 | NewScientist | 27 October 2018
