Xoiiku

@xoiiku

I don't know and I could be wrong. 🖖 ⚡️ 🌎 🌍 🌏 ☀️ Ⓥ Nom de plume OOO Author of the Otherwise Series

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Xoiiku@xoiiku· Jun 12

I would like to suggest that no one should be a millionaire while poverty exists. bsky.app/profile/scot...

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - chapter 77 (as interpreted by Xoiiku)

The way of Nature is like the bending of a bow, the top is lowered, and the bottom is raised.

The way of Nature is for those who have taken too much, to return some to those who do not have enough.

The Human way is different, they take from those who do not have enough, to give to those who already have too much.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· May 11

"...perhaps some kind of eucatastrophe had brought all of the nonviolent counterculture movements together, resulting in a vegalitarianiimisminimaliinterconnecteazen cultural shift, catalyzing a worldwide solarpunk revolution." Otherwise Elsewhere 003 www.patreon.com/posts/otherw...

Earthrise cover art for Otherwise Elsewhere 003 by Kirk Shannon

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Apr 22

The aggregate of our individual choices is the de facto collective action. "Given that he’d already done every reasonable thing that he could do within his means as an individual, the plan required finding or creating a community." - Otherwise Elsewhere 001 bsky.app/profile/xoii...

Earthrise cover art for Otherwise Elsewhere 001 by Kirk Shannon

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Apr 22

Take Individual Action 2/4: Veganic permaculture pollinator garden and backyard wildlife sanctuary. "Pollinator gardens are made up of native plants that provide a source of food and shelter to other local species." earthday.org/wp-content/u...

Veganic permaculture pollinator garden and backyard wildlife sanctuary. Overview.

Veganic permaculture pollinator garden and backyard wildlife sanctuary. Raised beds 01.

Veganic permaculture pollinator garden and backyard wildlife sanctuary. Raised beds 02.

Veganic permaculture pollinator garden and backyard wildlife sanctuary. Kiwi tunnel.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Apr 22

"Year-round and on Earth Day, we activate communities around the world to take action for the planet. From classrooms to city halls, everyone has a role to play. Start small or go big. Every action strengthens the movement." - www.earthday.org/action/ Blue Marble 1972.12.07 Hello, World 2026.04.03

1972.12.07 "Blue Marble" Apollo 17 image AS17-148-22727.

2026.04.03 "Hello, World", taken by Reid Wiseman of the Artemis II crew.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Apr 11

"Blossoming orchards and terraced gardens stepped down the inner slopes to the serene shoreline. Wherever she looked, there were people strolling together on the winding paths and tending to all of the plants." Otherwise Elsewhere 002 Other ways of life are possible. www.patreon.com/posts/otherw...

Earthrise cover art for Otherwise Elsewhere 002 by Kirk Shannon

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Mar 26

Today I experienced some time dilation, while writing a comment on a nerdy sci-fi video about time dilation. 🖖

10:35 "Although I did have to go to another star system and find a literal alien to feel less alone." When so many people feel so alone, maybe it's time to stop comparing ourselves to the normies, and to start building community by actually listening to and being present with our fellow neurodivergents. 🖖

If we do, then maybe some of the people who are desperately trying to pretend to be normal, will relax and realize that there is life beyond the status quo.

If we do, then perhaps we will begin to understand that the whole idea of normies with "typical brains" is largely a social construct. The moment that we let go of that malignant, myopic, and self-isolating notion; our awareness of ourselves and each other expands to be more inclusive, expansive, and accurate.

Meaning that it is very likely that your thoughts, behaviors, interests, passions, and lifestyle is well within the actual set (as opposed to the conformist set) of the "normal" divergences of human beings. As such, there are probably many people who are complementary thinkers to you... that you could become friends with, as soon as you acknowledge they exist; which might require letting go of building your identity upon being so different from everyone else, while wanting the many of the same things that other people also want, and thinking about nerdy things that a lot of people enjoy thinking about.

As sentient beings, all of us are unique, even while we have many things in common, and even though we express and would like to experience those things in myriad ways; that just might diverge from whatever local norm has been constructed around us by conformists and cowards throughout history.

The loneliness epidemic has more to do with the inherent isolation that results from everyone being "too busy" chasing after unnecessary and unfulfilling things, constantly being distracted by the latest sensationalism, the incessant FOMO resulting from comparing themselves to the projected lives of others, seeking ever greater external validation rather than being content and grateful for the amount of attention they do receive, and basically becoming so self-absorbed that they're unable to be present with the people who are in their lives. It's not an exhaustive list, but if you've made it this far, you get the point.

42,590 views in 10 hours as of the time of this comment. You're not alone.

That is more than enough people to create a pluralistic community, build some viable alternatives to the status quo, and maybe even find a few friends.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Mar 24

A vegalitarianiimisminimaliinterconnecteazen revolution begins within. The aggregate of which is a pluralistic mosaic of ethically and ecologically coherent utopias, that continually evolve and diversify, to cocreate conditions for the flourishing of all sentient beings.

$Xoiiku: 14:17 "From the climate's point of view, it's an absolute clusterfracking catastrophe." 💯 A concerned netizen: What the fuck you doing to help fix this? Xoiiku: After studying sustainable agriculture, I went vegan more than 30 years ago. I've been a minimalist my entire life, and all of my possession can fit into a backpack and duffel bag. I'm car-free, child-free, pet-free, and I've paid the social and lifestyle costs of those choices in full. I've worked tirelessly for decades in environmental advocacy to try to help educate people about viable solutions to climate change and ecological collapse. I've also been writing a series of climate fiction books to try to reach people who don't usually read non-fiction, or who have read many of the excellent non-fiction books (Project Drawdown, Regenisis, Feed The People!, Not the End of the World, and others...) but are still curious as to why societies and individuals aren't adapting faster, and implementing ethically and ecologically coherent solutions as rapidly as possible. Oh, and I sometimes make and respond to comments on youtube, to help boost solutions-focused channels that encourage everyone to just have a think. What are you doing to help fix this? 🖖$

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Mar 24

It's almost as if every new generation calls for revolution, without learning about all of the reasons that the previous revolutions failed. “You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin

Systems thinking is more complex than blaming everything on "The System".

Create consensus around ecologically and ethically coherent solutions.
Boycott business as usual, until those ecocidal corporations actually change or go bankrupt.
Bridge the value-action gaps, by building accessible alternatives to the status quo.

The revolution begins within, because societies are more or less representative of the aggregate of individual behaviors, desires, and worldviews.
The powers that be want you to get burnt out, don't help them manufacture consent around not participating in and improving upon democratic processes.

Solarpunks and environmentalists, who continue consuming meat and dairy, regardless of the idealized socioeconomic paradigms that they would like to organize themselves under, will continue to be complicit in the destruction and degradation of nature, because of the inherent ecological inefficiencies of animal agriculture.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Mar 18

This video is a good dive on immigration and meritocracy from Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know. @hasanminhaj.com youtu.be/AQ6bNCijt3g?... I think we need to have more inclusive, pluralistic, and non-zero-sum visions for human flourishing. As such, I shared some thoughts, and now back to writing my books.

Meritocracy is a reasonable idea in theory, so long as one's relative merit is being assessed in regards to the required tasks for a specific context.
When merit is being advocated for by groups who are in power, and feel entitled to their privilege, it is almost always a dog whistle in practice.
A just civilization would recognize the inherent worth of every person, and appreciate whatever kind of contribution they can make to society.

The United States of America is a nation of immigrants, that at it's best, already has a clear and compassionate immigration policy:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" - excerpt from The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Mar 14

I am so tired of the "no other options" nonsense, all it does is enable acts of desperate obedience to the paradigms of aggression that are masquerading as resistance. "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." ~ Albert Einstein

38:47 "...after the failures of the mainstream environmentalist movement, it seemed like there were no other options." I've heard this rhetoric about "no other options" for decades, and all it does is to demonstrate how unimaginative and impulsive people can be, if not also making it plain how willfully ignorant most people are of the systems that they participate in and depend upon.

The mainstream environmental movement has failed for a plethora of reasons. First and foremost because those groups don't tend to focus on creating consensus around, or even educating their members about, viable solutions and alternatives. This is mostly because their funding model incentivizes them to tell people what they want to hear, and not to question or challenge their members to think critically or rationally about the aggregated impacts of their worldviews, diets, and lifestyles.

Given how things on this planet are inexorably interdependent and interconnected, the only useful distinction between individual and collective action, is the aspect of it that you have more control over and the most responsibility for. Communities and societies are comprised of individuals, so if you want to change the world, start with yourself.

Looking at you, all of the meat eating and dairy consuming environmentalists, who want to believe in baseless bucolic fantasies, rather than acknowledging the realities of ecological efficiency and land use opportunity costs of animal agriculture. Want to protect the forests? Then start with learning about what one of the primary drivers of demand for all that clear cutting is... feed grain and pasture.

Because blaming the other is the socially convenient narrative, while personal and therefore collective responsibility is maligned, those mainstream environmental organizations tend to peddle monocausotaxophilia du jour, condone any greenwashing that allows their members to feel good about themselves, and to profit from fearmongering about the problems, while acquiescing to legislative middle-ground fallacies.

The whole notion that the more "radical", and the so-called "direct action", people make moderate and non-violent positions more palatable is a bunch of nonsense which demonstrates a complete inability to understand default human psychology, while also re-writing history as if those things were necessary... which again plays into the "no other options" trope. It's circular reasoning and cherry picking, that locks everyone into a very limited set of options, and a catastrophically myopic view of the possibilities of non-violent action.

If you really want to do something radical, and participate in effective direct action, then cocreate ethically and ecologically coherent alternatives to the status quo. All else, are just acts of desperate obedience to the paradigms of aggression that are masquerading as resistance.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Mar 11

"He took a deep breath and thought about how much he would prefer to just report that humanity was mostly harmless." - OOO Otherwise Elsewhere 001 An updated and revised version of Elsewhere is available now. www.patreon.com/posts/otherw...

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Mar 8

Curious about AI water use in terms of hamburgers? 2.5 billion AI queries use somewhere between 329 and 37,900 hamburgers worth of water per day. In the U.S. alone, approximately 137 million hamburgers are eaten every day. Just some food for thought about systems and scale. 🍔

"A little less than a teaspoon of water." If you're sourcing that from Sam Altman, many articles cite his estimate as less than one-fifteenth of a teaspoon. It's important that these numbers are reported as accurately as possible, such that we can make informed decisions about what we participate in, and have a useful understanding of the world.

It's interesting and informative, when people are willing to think in terms of both individual and aggregated impacts. "2.5 billion queries a day. Add those up and..." Yes, that's a lot of water, and, do people know how much water that other things that they do everyday consumes?

For instance, it takes roughly 660 gallons of water to produce a single hamburger. ChatGPT consumes about 0.0000868 gallons of water per response. If each hamburger is roughly equivalent to 7.6 million queries (660 ÷ 0.0000868 = 7,603,686). Then, 2.5 billion queries a day is equivalent to approximately 329 hamburgers worth of water (2,500,000,000 queries ÷ 7,603,686 queries = 329).

In the United States alone, around 50 billion hamburgers are eaten annually. This breaks down to roughly 137 million hamburgers per day (50 billion ÷ 365 days = 137 million). With the water used for 137 million hamburgers, approximately 1.04 quadrillion (1.04 × 10¹⁵) ChatGPT queries could be run.

We need to be as diligent about asking questions about the existing things, that are often overlooked and taken for granted, as we are about the new things.

Given the current sociopolitical and economic realities of this world, there are many good reasons to be against using AI in various ways. However, misinforming people about the relative rates of water and energy consumption, without putting it in context, isn't helping people see things clearly.

If we use a higher estimate for water consumption at 0.01 gallons per query, based data centers with less efficient cooling and larger language models. Then each hamburger is roughly equivalent to 66,000 queries (660 ÷ 0.01 = 66,000). Therefore, 2.5 billion queries a day is equivalent to approximately 37,900 hamburgers worth of water (2,500,000,000 queries ÷ 66,000 queries).

As such, depending on how accurate our estimates of water use are, 2.5 billion AI queries use somewhere between 329 and 37,900 hamburgers worth of water per day. Either way, given that in the U.S. alone, approximately 137 million hamburgers are eaten every day, the water and energy use of AI is relatively small in context.

One of my reasons for bringing this up, is that I'd like to see more reporting about animal agriculture and other sectors to be as clear about the interconnected and aggregated impacts on water, energy, and land use. Data centers do need to become more efficient, use renewable energy, and make better use of the heat they generate (seeing it as a resource, for district heating and such, rather than treating it as waste). This is a technological problem that can be fixed. As such, I suggest focusing on promoting awareness of those viable solutions, don't just jump on the anti-AI bandwagon.

On the other hand, the inefficiencies of animal agriculture (which consumes far more water, energy, and land, while producing far more GHG emissions) are inherent to the physics of energy transfer through trophic levels (ref: ecological efficiency and feed conversion ratios). As such, the only viable solution to the climate and environmental problems with animal agriculture, is to significantly reduce our consumption and focus on a just and rapid transition to plant-based diets. All else is exceptoincrementalitarianism and science denial.

Also, in the US United States alone, the water used for lawn irrigation is approximately 7 to 10 billion gallons per day...

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Nov 1

When one is curious about the ocean, they can learn a lot by checking the cetaceans.

A curious cuttlefish attempts to communicate with porpoise.

Art by Kirk Shannon @kirkshannon.bsky.social

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Oct 19

"The Hylidae were very clear on this point, as they knew that benevolent rulers were exceptionally rare, and far less reliable than the collective intelligence of representative councils in an educated, inclusive, and diverse society." - OOO Otherwise Elsewhere In other words, No Kings.

Chapter 00020 - While on a walkabout in the deep jungle a young Hylidae encounters an adventurous Stonefeather who is wandering toward danger lurking in the shadows...

...all will be well, if we heed the wisdom of the frogs.

Art by Kirk Shannon @kirkshannon.bsky.social

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Sep 21

Three solutions focused and sunny things to learn about for Sun Day; agrivoltaics, ecological efficiency, and solarpunk. #SunDayOfAction #Solarpunk #Vegan en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrivol... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecologi... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solarpunk

Sun Day sun #6294; a wabi-sabi solarpunk vegan design by Xoiiku

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Aug 16

Agreed. I think that the Half-Earth Socialism game and the book are worthwhile for anyone interested in social change and climate advocacy. There are some things I disagree with, of course, but that's all part of building strong coalitions among imperfect allies. 🤓🖖

Half-Earth Socialism - Coalition 22/33 - The Utopian, Fanonist, Ecofeminist, Accelerationist, Environmentalist, and Animal Liberationist are all allies.

Half-Earth Socialism - 13th Planning Session - People are ecstatic, biodiversity is flourishing, the world is recovering, and Parliament trusts you completely.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Aug 16

Although anthropogenically accelerated climate change is actually a symptom of the most challenging problem — the myriad conundrums of culture which exacerbate rather than alleviate the value action gaps — focusing on climate solutions good place to start unraveling those Gordian knots. #whyclimate

One of the first images of Earth from space, The Blue Marble, in it's original orientation with the South Pole facing the top.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Jun 1

Cocreate conditions conducive to life. Wherever and whenever you can, insofar as you are able.

A lush and biodiverse backyard veganic permaculture garden and wildlife habitat.

A raised bed in a backyard veganic permaculture garden and wildlife habitat.

Another raised bed in a backyard veganic permaculture garden and wildlife habitat.

A kiwi and bean trellis in a backyard veganic permaculture garden and wildlife habitat.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Apr 19

Secrets of the Forest is an excellent documentary, though it was vague about the extent of one problems and missed the corresponding solutions. Scroll up for information on ecological efficiency, land use opportunity costs, just transitions to plant-based agriculture, and advocacy by deliciousness.

46:30 "We're loosing ancient forests... mainly for cattle grazing and crop growing..." The majority of those crops are being fed to livestock. Therefore, animal agriculture is largest cause of deforestation worldwide. If you want to help conserve old growth forests, then choosing a plant-based diet is one of the most effective things you can do.

The aggregate of our individual choices is our de facto collective action.

If people are going to talk about "only taking what you need and minimizing harm," then they need to understand the realities of ecological efficiency and land use opportunity costs, while considering the perspectives of the other sentient beings that we share this planet with. The logical and compassionate conclusion is clearly advocating for eating lower on the food chain.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Mar 11

“You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed Therefore, be the change you want to see in the world.

Xoiiku Moss, seen depicted as a relaxed and groovy dragon dryad who is being the cryptid that he wants to see in the woods.

Art by Capwak @capwak.bsky.social

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Jan 6

Oberon Ouroboros Odd is an intergalactically renowned cosmic citizen who is best unknown for being the altruistic author of the eccentrically emerging Otherwise series. bsky.app/profile/xoii...

The symbol for Oberon Ouroboros Odd from the spine of the book Otherwise Elsewhere.

A photo of Xoiiku Moss, who writes under the pen name Oberon Ouroboros Odd.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Dec 19

One of my readers shared their #GoodreadsYearinBooks summary with me, and apparently, my book was the loooongest one that they read this year. That's odd, because it's just a simple story exploring myriad conundrums of culture from diverse perspectives. #Solarpunk #ClimateFiction #WritingCommunity

An image from somone's Goodreads Year in Books summary which shows Otherwise Elsewhere as the Loooongest book that they read this year.

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Dec 1

It's important to be open-minded, just not so open-minded that your brain falls out, and not so close-minded that nothing gets in. Question everything. x.com/xoiiku/statu...

"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

Xoiiku@xoiiku· Nov 14

For those curious about my profile avatar and my face.