The problem is generally not that we are producing plastic. The problem is that some people just throw it away when it's broken / old / what ever, essentially dumping it to the flowing water to get rid of it. This behaviour and attitude towards nature is something that I as a westerner just can't understand and I won't accept any blame-shifting games here.
Poverty is also a very bad excuse to dump plastic in nature. I have been poor as f*ck and the thought of dumping garbage around hasn't even once crossed my mind. Urgent action (like severe fines and even jail-time and such for dumping plastic, but also positive reinforcement) is something the developing countries need.
I’m not shifting blame. I’m sharing it. Look into some of the places the plastic grocery bag you “recycle” get handled. In some cases they are put on a ship and sent to India, sorted by hand, then melted using dirty fuels, again, by hand. So this “America takes care of its plastic, so India should too” is flat out wrong. We may not be as bad, but we do not handle our own issue completely. And if the US is sending your country their trash and doesn’t follow up with how it was handled, how is that not an incentive to do in the most cost effective manner possible, even if that means harming persons and environmental health?
Or let’s talk about clear cutting the Amazon for agriculture. How dare Brazil do that! Have you flown over middle America??? It’s all developed farm land. There are entire states that are basically monoculture agricultural where natural ecosystems used to be. Are you suggesting we return that land to its natural state?
Or let’s talk about electronics. Should we have jail time if you are responsible for purchasing a device without ensuring it was sourced in an environmentally responsible manner? Should people that purchased devices manufactured from raw materials derived by strip mining and processes that leach chemicals be given prison sentences?
It does take land that you possess and are willing to sacrifice for long-term composting. We're passing judgement here without knowing anything about the social systems in these places.
The article tells a story; it's not meant for people trying to grasp technical details. Furthermore, it can be argued that reading (well-written texts like this) for readings sake also broadens your mind.
At least provide a summary. I mean,
"After completing his medical studies, Friston moved to Oxford and spent two years as a resident trainee at a Victorian-era hospital called Littlemore. Founded under the 1845 Lunacy Act, Littlemore had originally been instituted to help transfer all “pauper lunatics” from workhouses to hospitals. By the mid-1980s, when Friston arrived, it was one of the last of the old asylums on the outskirts of England’s cities."
is a story.
But as a neuroscientist with an interest in machine learning, I want to know the idea, not the history of Littlemore, attended by this scientist whose tools and methods I have used(Friston motion parameters, I am looking at you).
Absolutely true, hence the assumptions. It also assumes the OP's prior pay wasn't atypically high e.g. to fill a very specific need such as self driving computer vision refinement.
I wouldn't consider a 10-15% dip a "minor" one, though. That's consistently tens of thousands of dollars in the top ten US metro markets for these roles.
You are probably looking for advanced people (or you might just be a shitty recruiter...). As a second data point I can tell that having OSCP can help you significantly in the beginning of your career (and for a reason, most entry-level certs are just complete bs and it's nice to have something to show off when you are lacking actual experience).
Poverty is also a very bad excuse to dump plastic in nature. I have been poor as f*ck and the thought of dumping garbage around hasn't even once crossed my mind. Urgent action (like severe fines and even jail-time and such for dumping plastic, but also positive reinforcement) is something the developing countries need.