iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Craven, undemocratic behaviour by this government. I am speechless at the gall to pretend this is about cybersecurity.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Yasssss. We're so lucky to have Uytae covering these topics.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

It's a great report, and I'm really proud of it. If you want to learn more, check it out here: www.zeic.ca/news/metro-v...

zeic.ca

From Strength to Scale: How Metro Vancouver Can Capture Economic Opportunity in the Global Energy Transition

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

We do some sectoral overviews in clean energy, buildings, and transportation, and I'll direct you to the report if you want to dig into those more deeply.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

We characterize the Metro Vancouver story as one of strong deployment without a synergized export focus. Emissions have grown, in part, because the economic logic is still disconnected: We still don't see decarbonization as economic policy.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Bringing it down to BC, things feel even more grim. We're superstars in copper and a few other critical minerals, but our strong cleantech reputation hasn't translated to large-scale exports, even though the *growth* rates (almost 20% per year for five years) are enviable.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Using data from the @transitionaccelerator.ca we found that Canada's industrial capacity in key technology categories was concerningly middling. We compare it to best-in-class China just to show how far behind we are.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

The report's premise is in the title: we need to move from individual strengths to a fully scaled approach to the energy transition, which means both local deployment and a focused export strategy. On the latter part, we're definitely not looking so hot.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

A relatively unique contention we have is that urban centres are major unsung leaders not just of climate action (a strong existing claim), but of the energy transition specifically. Just look at this investment data from the Cities Climate Finance Alliance:

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Big picture, we all know the energy transition is only accelerating around the world. We're clear, following @ember-energy.org, the @iea.org, and many others, that this is all about what we call "the relentless efficiency of electrotech." (graph via Ember)

Three side-by-sideg graphs showing a 99.6% reduction in cost for solar PV modules since 1980; a 80% reduction in wind installation cost since 1980; and a 99% reduction in battery cell prices since 1980.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

First, the big one: the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre has just released a new report, Strength to Scale, which lays out how Metro Vancouver is competing within the energy transition. The results, to put it simply, are mixed. www.zeic.ca/news/metro-v...

zeic.ca

From Strength to Scale: How Metro Vancouver Can Capture Economic Opportunity in the Global Energy Transition

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

My newsletter, Public Learning, is out again! This week I cover the report that my team at ZEIC just released on regional energy transition competitiveness, and dwell on an ancient quote that has really moved me. 🧵

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 08/08/2026

A good reminder that cities aren't loud. Cars are loud.

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Canadian Paintings @canadianpaintings.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Skytrain Connection Peter D. Harris 2023

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Jen St. Denis @jenstden.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Here’s the full story: the BC Conservatives have hired an Alberta separatist and a far-right media figure, signalling the direction the party plans to take under new leader Kerry Lynne Findlay thetyee.ca/News/2026/07...

thetyee.ca

BC Conservatives Hire an Alberta Separatist and Far-Right Media Figure | The Tyee

Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay commits to a MAGA approach to winning power.

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 14/07/2026

An amazing quote from Lindsey Graham in this Atlantic story. It really captures an essential truth about politics that too few people ever really come to terms with. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

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Canadian Paintings @canadianpaintings.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Dartmouth Harbourfront Deb Bromley 2021

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Cameron Maltby @cameronmaltby.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Who could have predicted?

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

What's the ratio of public to private capital for this, and what's the expected ROI for the public on that?

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

All of this is purely observational; there's no profound analytical takeaway - particularly because I'm just vibin' on this one- but I will say this: Understanding the logic of someone's metaphors is equally, if not more, important at times than just the actual words they say. fin.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

It's like the comparisons people have drawn between the concept of patriarchy and "the cathedral." philpapers.org/rec/WOOCMA-4

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

It's honestly weird, and a little funny. You have this huuuge gulf in most of the way these two high-cache groups talk, except when it comes to systems, where the orienting logic (though not always the exact terminology) actually has some common root, IMO.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Everyone became fascinated by feedback loops, hierarchies, flows, and leverage points. That lineage and language went on to influence people as diverse as Donella Meadows and Freiderick Hayek to Stewart Brand and adrienne maree brown, who each then interpreted and applied them for their purposes

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

The provenance of the language of systems change, which I would trace back to early cyberneticists like Stafford Beer (though the ideas go back further), is fascinating because it's deeply inflected with physics and biology, though later used by computer scientists and social scientists.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Again, all of this is me just reading vibes. I pretend to nothing scientific here, but I just find it interesting how divergent these metaphors are -- with one exception: Systems change language.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

There's also a large somatics focus, so you'll hear people say something like: "what's the energy like in the room?" Or what the "felt sense" of something is, or who is "activated." There's also the use of formerly therapeutic language: "hold space," "create a container," "tend to," etc.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

In many of these spaces, I hear this effort to offer what I would call "gentle" metaphors: You don't eliminate redundancies; you "braid" or "weave" together potentially conflicting efforts. I happen to use this metaphor a lot, because it makes sense to me, but it's interesting to notice it.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Here, the metaphorical drift runs in some different (but not entirely divergent) directions. I see this progressive sphere drawing on terminology from diverse spheres: feminist standpoint epistemology ("lived experience"), systems theory ("leverage points"), somatics ("nervous system"), & ecology

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

On the other hand, you have what I am going to call "progressive circles," within which I include the broad world of non-profits, both service organizations and those more system-change-y ones (like where I work), some government agencies, small-scale consulting, and much of the social sciences

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Okay, so, there's that shift among business elites and knowledge workers. To be an insider in that world, you need to be conversant in software, economics, and specifically VC-ified language to be taken seriously.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

As someone who grew up reading Og Mandino and Benjamin Graham, it's really striking how laughably quaint and out of touch their metaphors would seem with most of what's there today. Even the older "BUSINESS IS WAR" stuff would feel a bit icky to many today, I think.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

It's a more abstract, almost philosophical way to speak -- also heavily influenced by the outsized cultural influence of venture capital and startup culture. VC-speak pervades business spaces in near-hegemonic ways, despite its phenomenally limited applicability.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

But the latter part feels more recent and I notice it when I hear older business leaders talk about the fundamentals of their business and I have a sense of what they really mean; while with younger execs, I'm always doing a little translation (even though I speak the language).

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I think it's firstly part of the ascendance of widespread economic education in the past forty years, where that thinking has crept into most business environments, even if people only take the 100-level stuff.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I'm going on vibes here, obviously, but I perceive a tendency for the early- to mid-career folks to use vastly more software-y or economic terms than in older business lit. "Platform," "pipeline," "scale," "shipped," "velocity," "scale," "nudge," "friction," "transaction cost," and so on.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

As the cultural cachet of certain technical professions, particularly in the software world, has steadily increased, I find the business world increasingly awash with pseudo-technical language that's a melange of economics, physics, and programming-adjacent terminology and phraseology.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

There's this essay I want to write about the divergence in metaphor between educated people who work in elite-ish knowledge economy professions. Here's what I have so far:

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Aubrey Gilleran @aubreygilleran.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

This is the kind of insight that could turn you into a more humble public servant or a nihilist, and I think we know which option Graham chose.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Cap the trip off with a few hours (and some drawing practice) in the National Gallery, and that's it! See you tomorrow, Vancouver!

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

The John Soane Museum is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Cannot recommend it enough.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Liverpool Street Station - I'm amazed at the amount of (a) light, (b) retail, and (c) trains that they can stuff into these stations. The cleanliness is rarely stellar, but the buzz of these stations is electric well into the night. It made me think about ol' Perkins&Will proposal for Van.

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Forgot to check in earlier and lost the Hunger Games. Hello ten hour flight in the middle row 😭

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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Induced demand, but for simple water play features

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George Patrick Richard Benson @georgeprbenson.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

As far as I can tell, and correct me if I am wrong @jimbostanford.bsky.social, it’s probably our pension schemes that RRSP system that helps boost our ranking here.

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