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petermiles.bsky.social
Pete Miles
@petermiles.bsky.social
3.2K followers 7K following 8.2K 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
pastpostcard.bsky.social
I DONE IT SHIRLEY.
December 29, 2025 at 9:34 PM
petermiles.bsky.social
Whimsical - that's the word I'm looking for, to describe this podcast series and this particular episode. Like a nice chat in the pub with clever funny people.

@aiannucci.bsky.social and @nataliehaynes.bsky.social

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Strong Message Here - Words of the Year (with Natalie Haynes) - BBC Sounds
Armando Iannucci and Natalie pick through some of the words of the year.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 8:19 PM
petermiles.bsky.social
Interesting prediction from Rob Ford here, indicating a potential route towards proportional representation in the UK.
robfordmancs.bsky.social Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 5h
The current Labour leadership won’t, but I think if we do get a contest then leading contenders will commit to at least a commission on reform as the idea is popular with backbenchers, members and affiliated unions so an easy win with those whose support they need bsky.app/profile/grah...
grahambs.bsky.social Graham Simpson @grahambs.bsky.social · 7d
Will the Labour leadership finally accept the need for electoral reform? Or will they cross their fingers and just hope that the FPTP lottery doesn’t deliver a Reform government?
December 29, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
Ian Dunt on Liz Truss:

"Her primary social contribution to the life of the nation now comes as a kind of ad-hoc psychological experiment in which we discover what life is like when you have literally no self-awareness whatsoever."

open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
The Complete Dunt Awards 2025
Welcome to the second annual celebration of all that is best and worst in our political culture.
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
I think this is one of the most important things going on in UK public sector reform right now.

#TestLearnandGrow

www.gov.uk/government/n...
Communities across the country to benefit from ‘innovation squads’ to re-build public services
Working people across England are set to benefit from better public services, with ‘innovation squads’ sent in to back community ideas and work with the frontline as part of a £100 million ‘Test, Lear...
www.gov.uk
December 28, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
This is a brilliant short video (less than 4 minutes) on how the Russian newspapers are reporting on their ally in the White House, and the parlous state of the Russian economy.
bbcstever.bsky.social Steve Rosenberg @bbcstever.bsky.social · 15h
How does Moscow view Donald Trump at the end of 2025? One Russian paper today: “The US leader’s philosophy is closer to the values of Russia’s president, not the politicians of the Old World…he sees Europe as a liberal stronghold to be destroyed…” #ReadingRussia youtu.be/7EwZNk6KgHU
"Russian industry has entered a perfect storm" warns Russian paper.
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
youtu.be
December 29, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
A fascinating film, saw it recently.

manchestermill.co.uk/a-mancunian-...
A Mancunian noir classic capturing a lost city
In 1960, Hell is a City set the bar for neo-noir. Now it's a window into a past long demolished
manchestermill.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
petermiles.bsky.social
Ian Dunt on the inspirational Georgian independence movement, protesting each day for over a year now:

open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
They have been fighting for over a year now. Nothing will stop them. No police force or weather condition can prevent them. Even with barely any Western interest, even after a year in which most movements would have lost their momentum, they just keep on going. As in Ukraine, they do not simply fight for self-determination. They fight for Europe. For a dream of Europe: A place where countries cooperate rather than merely compete, where they are free to determine their own affairs and choose to do so in concert, where safety and freedom are guaranteed by virtue of mutual dependence. This is the dream that Putin despises, that Trump detests, that Starmer will not voice, and that even European leaders are too self-effacing to say out loud. It is one of the most beautiful ideas of the post-war period. It is an experiment in geopolitics that is simply without precedent, which is so much more daring and radical than the archaic nationalist solutions of the populists. Every day, every week, every month, the people of Georgia go out and fight for that dream. We owe it to them to try and live up to their expectations.
December 29, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
tomgauld.bsky.social
My cartoon for the latest @newscientist.com
The neuroscience laboratory is closed for the holidays, but a staff member is on hand to answer the Consciousness Hotline. Scientist on the phone in an otherwise deserted office: "So, to summarise: No, I can't say with complete certainty that you exist. But yes, you probably ought to go back to work after the holidays anyway."
December 29, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
bryb.bsky.social
How I'm walking out of 2025
December 29, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
mikeyearworth.bsky.social
Problem Structuring : Methodology in Practice

“Current perspectives on approaches to problem structuring in operational research and engineering and prospects for problem structuring methods applicable to a wide range of practice.”

Book, e-book, pdf download…

www.grounded.systems/2024/03/prob...
Despite the myriad successes of Operational Research (OR) in government and industry, critique of its continued relevance to complex, wicked problems led to the emergence and evolution of Soft OR as a more humanist orientation of the discipline centred on a methodological framing of techniques known as Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs). These have enabled OR practitioners to broaden the scope of OR to address complex problem contexts that require transforming, planning and strategising interventions for their clients. The original core PSMs of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) and the Strategic Choice Approach (SCA) are presented using a new analytical framework based on constitutive rules, epistemologies, and affordances of the modelling approach. Practical considerations in PSM based interventions are discussed emphasising trust-building, stakeholder identification, facilitation and ethical practice. A wide range of PSM applications are surveyed demonstrating clear intersections with communities of practice grounded in the applied social sciences. The development of a new PSM based on Hierarchical Process Modelling (HPM) of purpose arising from a processual turn in engineering practice offers additional insights for the practice of Soft OR. New developments in PSM practice built on use of Group Support Systems (GSS) and exploiting developments in machine learning are presented. Prospects for bringing the Soft OR project back into better alignment with mainstream OR are discussed in the context of new education programs and a possible processual turn in OR.
December 29, 2025 at 5:41 PM
petermiles.bsky.social
Ian Dunt on the inspirational Georgian independence movement, protesting each day for over a year now:

open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
They have been fighting for over a year now. Nothing will stop them. No police force or weather condition can prevent them. Even with barely any Western interest, even after a year in which most movements would have lost their momentum, they just keep on going. As in Ukraine, they do not simply fight for self-determination. They fight for Europe. For a dream of Europe: A place where countries cooperate rather than merely compete, where they are free to determine their own affairs and choose to do so in concert, where safety and freedom are guaranteed by virtue of mutual dependence. This is the dream that Putin despises, that Trump detests, that Starmer will not voice, and that even European leaders are too self-effacing to say out loud. It is one of the most beautiful ideas of the post-war period. It is an experiment in geopolitics that is simply without precedent, which is so much more daring and radical than the archaic nationalist solutions of the populists. Every day, every week, every month, the people of Georgia go out and fight for that dream. We owe it to them to try and live up to their expectations.
December 29, 2025 at 3:31 PM
petermiles.bsky.social
Ian Dunt on Liz Truss:

"Her primary social contribution to the life of the nation now comes as a kind of ad-hoc psychological experiment in which we discover what life is like when you have literally no self-awareness whatsoever."

open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
The Complete Dunt Awards 2025
Welcome to the second annual celebration of all that is best and worst in our political culture.
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
metoffice.gov.uk
Arctic air will move down over the UK come the end of the week, with an increasing risk of snow in places ❄️
December 29, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
danhon.com
Dude named his awesome security company after a guy who got beaten by two little dudes with hairy feet
December 29, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
pastpostcard.bsky.social
I assume and hope you have not told ANY of our relations about my foreign affair. Do not let them know you know. PLEASE.
December 29, 2025 at 10:01 AM
petermiles.bsky.social
A fascinating film, saw it recently.

manchestermill.co.uk/a-mancunian-...
A Mancunian noir classic capturing a lost city
In 1960, Hell is a City set the bar for neo-noir. Now it's a window into a past long demolished
manchestermill.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 9:57 AM
petermiles.bsky.social
This is a brilliant short video (less than 4 minutes) on how the Russian newspapers are reporting on their ally in the White House, and the parlous state of the Russian economy.
bbcstever.bsky.social Steve Rosenberg @bbcstever.bsky.social · 15h
How does Moscow view Donald Trump at the end of 2025? One Russian paper today: “The US leader’s philosophy is closer to the values of Russia’s president, not the politicians of the Old World…he sees Europe as a liberal stronghold to be destroyed…” #ReadingRussia youtu.be/7EwZNk6KgHU
"Russian industry has entered a perfect storm" warns Russian paper.
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
youtu.be
December 29, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
bbcstever.bsky.social
How does Moscow view Donald Trump at the end of 2025? One Russian paper today: “The US leader’s philosophy is closer to the values of Russia’s president, not the politicians of the Old World…he sees Europe as a liberal stronghold to be destroyed…” #ReadingRussia youtu.be/7EwZNk6KgHU
"Russian industry has entered a perfect storm" warns Russian paper.
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
youtu.be
December 29, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Reposted by Pete Miles
ox.ac.uk
Beautiful morning light over Broad Street 🌅

📷 Instagram | Juncao_Oxford (Photo taken earlier this week)
Aerial view of Oxford at sunrise, with golden light spilling over Broad Street and the Radcliffe Camera, mist and chimney steam drifting above the rooftops.
December 28, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
ohlookbirdies.bsky.social
My old boss at the helium factory still speaks highly of me
December 28, 2025 at 11:25 AM
petermiles.bsky.social
I think this is one of the most important things going on in UK public sector reform right now.

#TestLearnandGrow

www.gov.uk/government/n...
Communities across the country to benefit from ‘innovation squads’ to re-build public services
Working people across England are set to benefit from better public services, with ‘innovation squads’ sent in to back community ideas and work with the frontline as part of a £100 million ‘Test, Lear...
www.gov.uk
December 28, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
dreadships.bsky.social
"Old MacDonald's content farm..."
"AI?"
"AI."
"Oh."
rosamundi.bsky.social Rosamundi @rosamundi.bsky.social · 1d
delighted to see a spammy account get their ECBs confused.
(Hugh Morris is a former Chief Executive of the England & Wales Cricket Board)
#cricket 🏏
some spammy bluesky account: Hugh Morris obituary: The cricketer and former European Central Bank president leaves an enduring legacy.
December 28, 2025 at 12:56 PM
petermiles.bsky.social
I'd wondered what this announcement meant since the walking route is already in place for those who know about it and can get to it.

But the measures here (signage, accessibility, community involvement) should add worthwhile value, presumably at relatively low cost.

www.gov.uk/government/n...
First new National River Walk announced
• The 21-kilometre ‘Mersey Valley Way’ is set to run from Stockport through Manchester to Trafford
www.gov.uk
December 28, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Pete Miles
amnestyuk.bsky.social
We analysed every line of X’s algorithm we could get our hands on.

Here’s what we found.

Read on: www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
August 6, 2025 at 9:02 AM