In memory of John Doyle
On Saturday 19 July I got news that my friend and colleague John Doyle had passed in his sleep the previous night. His WhatsApp status said “last seen today 00.00”. It was totally unexpected, shocking and incredibly sad at the same time. Sudden deaths are brutal for those who stay behind. My heart goes to his family and their grief.
I felt compelled to write about him because John is partly responsible for my starting with the open conspiracy, this blog s dedicated to a book of HG Wells with the same title. Many of the steps that brought me there would not have been taken if it were not for him.
John joined a “foresight group” I used to manage sometime around 2015. He took ownership of it immediately. One of the aims of the foresight group was to empower young colleagues to speak their mind. John was not a young colleague and always spoke his mind. Some found him challenging but many were inspired by his direct approach and his disregard for formality. His mind was quick, often forceful, sometimes long and complicated, and always well thought through. Thorough. He tried hard to be respectful and care for other people’s feelings. And he made his point at every opportunity.
John’s highest duty was speaking truth to power. He was a great strategist when it came to understanding how power worked and he was relentless in his commitment to make power listen.
His passion was climate change. He had a profound understanding of the science behind climate models and was an avid follower of https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/.
Climatic futures are possibly the best understood futures today. They have been charted by climatologists, palaeoclimatologists, climate modellers, sociologists and economists and a whole host of scientific and political institutions around the IPCC. The only question worth asking is what do we do about it now. John was greatly interested in futures that would help with that question and showed no interest in futures that did not provide lessons for actions to address climate change.
“Once they get it” he used to say, things will move. Moral clarity was one of John’s most important character qualities. He would laugh at himself but he would get outraged with injustice and refusal to see the truth – the kind of blindness displayed by people in positions of power, balancing conflicting interests.
When people seemed to not get it, John would think of it as his fault, whether a failure of his technique, or a problem with his manners, or something to do with the way the context and content of his intervention did not hit the right notes. He thus dedicated a great deal of effort in understanding the human brain and psyche. With obsessive persistence John corresponded with many scientists around the world, from psychologists and brain anatomists to climate scientists and engineers, questioning their writings and inquiring about their latest insights.
Knowledge, moral clarity and deliberating technique are at the heart of the open conspiracy. Now that we know what we know and understand the moral implications of our actions, “what are we to do with our lives” asks HG Wells. John looked after people, his friends and family and anyone who needed looking-after. He campaigned to stop climate change. He worked for European unity and unification. He inspired people. He was about what is good in this world, and I hope that wherever he is – he is enjoying a pint of Guinness.
