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petermiles.bsky.social
Pete Miles
@petermiles.bsky.social
3.1K followers 7K following 7.8K posts
Ex- consultant, manager, marketer, engineer. Interested in Complexity, Systems and Collective Intelligence. GSOH (Brit)
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petermiles.bsky.social
Pete Miles @petermiles.bsky.social · Nov 16
Welcome to Bluesky, the latest operating system for Collective Intelligence on planet Earth.

As short thread on a paper from the Royal Society in the context of innovation, which explains how you fit in.

(For those who participated in the prototype phase, Twitter/X can now be deleted.)
Abstract Innovation is often assumed to be the work of a talented few, whose products are passed on to the masses. Here, we argue that innovations are instead an emergent property of our species' cultural learning abilities, applied within our societies and social networks. Our societies and social networks act as collective brains. We outline how many human brains, which evolved primarily for the acquisition of culture, together beget a collective brain. Within these collective brains, the three main sources of innovation are serendipity, recombination and incremental improvement. We argue that rates of innovation are heavily influenced by (i) sociality, (ii) transmission fidelity, and (iii) cultural variance. We discuss some of the forces that affect these factors. These factors can also shape each other. For example, we provide preliminary evidence that transmission efficiency is affected by sociality-languages with more speakers are more efficient. We argue that collective brains can make each of their constituent cultural brains more innovative. This perspective sheds light on traits, such as IQ, that have been implicated in innovation. A collective brain perspective can help us understand otherwise puzzling findings in the IQ literature, including group differences, heritability differences and the dramatic increase in IQ test scores over time.
Reposted by Pete Miles
manchestermill.bsky.social
For a limited time only: Pay what you feel for The Mill!

We're launching a campaign to get 1,000 new subscribers.

If we succeed, we'll fulfil six pledges, chosen by our readers.

Read the pledges and sign up by clicking the link below!
November 21, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
bencoates1.bsky.social
A small but significant step: Dutch national broadcaster NOS is leaving X.

“The volume of hateful comments and disinformation on X is enormous and flows freely. This also applies under our own posts, meaning we unintentionally contribute to their spread”

over.nos.nl/nieuws/nos-p...
NOS plaatst vanaf vandaag geen nieuwsberichten meer op X - Over NOS
De NOS en Nieuwsuur (NOS/NTR) zijn gestopt met posten op X. Het platform past niet meer bij onze visie op...
over.nos.nl
November 25, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
resolutionfoundation.org
By 2024-25, pensioners received on average an extra £900 a year compared to 2010-11, while those under 65 receiving benefits have lost an average of £1,500 a year.

The key drivers of this? Increasing the state pension via the Triple Lock, while freezing and capping support for working-age families.
November 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
ruthh.bsky.social
Cycling to the local community garden to collect some apple juice... and spotted a random chunk of Hadrian's Wall outside Kwik Fit. Unexpected encounters with bits of Roman archaeology in everyday locations is one of my favourite #TinyJoys of living in this area.
A fairly large section of ruined wall with a Kwik Fit sign next to it.
November 25, 2025 at 11:29 AM
petermiles.bsky.social
This post reminded me that the lecture series has started, so I've just listened to the first episode.

Strongly recommended of course!

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
November 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
mooseallain.bsky.social
If I post a cartoon that's not on my website you can request a copy via the email because I draw each one to order.

www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...
Cartoon of John Travolta in his classic Saturday Night Fever disco dance pointing pose, jumping over a fallen tree trunk. Caption: John Treevaulter
November 25, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
rutgerbregman.com
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
flups.bsky.social
FACT OF THE DAY.

People who are on the fence about Teflon coated saucepans are known as agnonstic.
November 25, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
Hospital of the Future - this report looks very good to me - realistic (from my partial knowledge and experience), clear and succinct (just 20 pages).

I hope the right people are paying attention.

@re-state.bsky.social @ardernkate.bsky.social

re-state.co.uk/publications...
Hospital of the future: the last word - Re:State
Over the past year, Re:State has been working on a landmark programme titled ‘Hospital of the Future’. This was predicated on the idea that the 'upstream' shift to prevention alone will not address th...
re-state.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 8:32 PM
petermiles.bsky.social
Hospital of the Future - this report looks very good to me - realistic (from my partial knowledge and experience), clear and succinct (just 20 pages).

I hope the right people are paying attention.

@re-state.bsky.social @ardernkate.bsky.social

re-state.co.uk/publications...
Hospital of the future: the last word - Re:State
Over the past year, Re:State has been working on a landmark programme titled ‘Hospital of the Future’. This was predicated on the idea that the 'upstream' shift to prevention alone will not address th...
re-state.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
Petition for an inquiry into Russian interference in UK democracy.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Petition: Call a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy
We are concerned about reported efforts from Russia to influence democracy in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere. We believe we must establish the depth and breadth of possible Russian influence campaig...
petition.parliament.uk
November 23, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
This will of course also be happening in the UK...
beijingpalmer.bsky.social BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 2d
I think it is very unlikely that most of these are Russian influence agents, and considerably more likely that they are people from developing economies who have cottoned on to ways to make relatively large amounts of money for them by being paid-per-view by X.
robertscotthorton.bsky.social Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 2d
This week we learned that many of the most active Twitter accounts are foreigners, most likely Russian influence agents, operating in the guise of Red State Americans.
November 23, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
Looks like some good stuff in here...

'People across UK to benefit from easier access to local services as councils get digital boost - GOV.UK'

share.google/kdrNFAWMBvcN...
People across UK to benefit from easier access to local services as councils get digital boost
A new government unit, GDS Local, has launched to help councils across the UK make everyday services – from managing council tax to accessing local support – easier, faster, and more accessible for re...
share.google
November 23, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
This seems important to me. The current global energy transition breaks our key GDP metric.

Any economists out there care to comment?

From @allanpatterson.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/allanpat...
What Deflation Actually Looks Like: Lessons from China
A Lesson In Understanding GDP
open.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
stephencollins.bsky.social
[Scene is JESUS sat behind a boss’s desk in his office on a cloud in HEAVEN] 1 JESUS [speaking into intercom] Hi can you send in Saint Nicholas please 2 SANTA [entering in full Santa garb]: Hi boss JESUS: Hi Nick 3 JESUS: Listen - about this ‘my birthday’ thing... SANTA: Ohh not this again boss 4 JESUS: Nick, it’s out of hand. *You’ve* got out of hand. 5 JESUS: I mean when I hired you, you was all humble, hiding under windows, lobbing in dowries… And now you’re like… 6 JESUS [gesturing disdainfully at Santa’s clothing]: I mean - what’s this. 7 SANTA: This is my get up! I’ve had this since the Coca Cola deal in the 30s JESUS: *That’s what I mean.* 8 JESUS: You’ve just gone too - SANTA: Oh no, oh no - 9 SANTA: Sorry boss but waaay back in the Reformation, right, Martin Luther said: “why don’t we have Jesus delivering the presents?”. And when he prayed to ask you, do you remember what you said? Eh? 10 SANTA: You said: “I ain’t going back there” 11 SANTA: If you wanna take over - JESUS: Oh yeah! Kids coming downstairs to find me resurrected in their living room going "I got you an Xbox"... 12 SANTA: You’re just feeling threatened cos I’m doing a bloody good - JESUS: *WATCH IT NICK*. [ends]
November 24, 2025 at 12:56 PM
petermiles.bsky.social
This seems important to me. The current global energy transition breaks our key GDP metric.

Any economists out there care to comment?

From @allanpatterson.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/allanpat...
What Deflation Actually Looks Like: Lessons from China
A Lesson In Understanding GDP
open.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
sirbasil.bsky.social
"Far­age has already changed the UK (for the worse) more than any other liv­ing politi­cian. What might the coun­try look like after a period with him in office?"

Martin Wolf, today's FT
November 24, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
We're all watching out for dead cats now aren't we
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com · 2d
A motorist in western North Carolina escaped injury when the carcass of a cat crashed into the passenger side of her front windshield along a highway near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. https://cnn.it/3JQU8cB
November 22, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
Strong argument here for preserving the BBC, especially in a new world of AI agents telling us what we want to hear.

www.thenewworld.co.uk/jessica-ceci...
How the BBC can rebuild itself
Reeling from the Panorama crisis and with the future of its news operation threatened by AI that tells us only what we want to hear, it’s vital to have a national broadcaster that tells us what we nee...
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
Bill Browder on Gill et al.

(Autocarrot changed that to ('etc AI')
www.thenewworld.co.uk/eleanor-long...
Nathan Gill, the tip of a much bigger iceberg?
When it comes to Russian interference, Bill Browder, the US investor and prominent anti-Putin activist, believes the media has barely scratched the surface
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
Stewart Lee on top form here...

www.thenerve.news/p/stewart-le...
Stewart Lee: A pile of toxic filth has been dumped in the British countryside. It put me in mind of Nigel Farage
The fly-tipping in Oxfordshire is threatening the health of the local river – just as 25 years of platforming the Reform leader in the media has polluted our national discourse
www.thenerve.news
November 23, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
Rory Stewart (on the latest special TRIP podcast) and Joe Hill of Re:State (via email) both pushing this extremely important point - we need much better government systems to cope with the threats we face.

Groupthink is deadly, but we do know how to avoid it!

@jo3hill.bsky.social
I was a civil servant at the Treasury during the pandemic, and a lot of this rings true. But an area I don't feel gets enough attention, outside of some discussion regarding the role of SAGE, is groupthink. It's an area which we've identified as a problem throughout Whitehall, not just at the political levels of Westminster, and wrote about in our own report on pandemic preparedness. But I think it's best summarised by Professor Dame Angela McLean, then Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence, in her evidence to the inquiry from 2023: "The nicest thing that an academic can do for a colleague is point out why they're wrong before it goes out into the world and somebody unfriendly points out why they're wrong." "Whereas it is very frequent in a civil service meeting that as somebody stands up the very first thing they will say is 'I agree with everything that's been said', and you're sat there thinking, 'Well, you can't have been listening then'." The recommendations of Module 2 make no mention of well-tested ideas like 'red-teams' to separately scrutinise and challenge plans, and it doesn't spend enough time interrogating why (from their own evidence), when Patrick Vallance initially raised the idea of a lockdown, current and former Cabinet Secretaries were "incandescent" with him for raising it with them ... Until such practices become much more common, it seems likely that the next crisis will suffer many of the same errors of preparation and decision-making, that the pandemic did. And with the Defence Select Committee reporting this week that we are not prepared to defend our own territory in the face of direct aggression from a hostile power, that is more important than ever.
November 23, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
reformexposed.bsky.social
Hey everyone, the blackshirts are coming, soon.
November 23, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
maxberger.bsky.social
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
November 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
actualnames.bsky.social
Mildred Shat

England, Yorkshire, Parish Registers, 1538-2016
November 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM