Turning the clock back, at your own scale

You will not turn the clock back by switching off the lights. That is not a reason to do nothing: it is a reason to pick the right levers. This page starts from what has actually moved the hand back since 1947, and works down to what one person can contribute.

What has turned the clock back, historically

Nine moves back in 78 years. All share one thing: a political decision to cooperate — a treaty, an agreement, the end of a confrontation. None came from a technical advance alone, or from a change in individual behaviour. But each was preceded by public pressure: the 1963 treaty followed the Cuban scare and protests against radioactive fallout; the 1988 INF Treaty followed the European demonstrations of 1981–1983 (the largest in the continent's history) and the film The Day After, which Reagan admitted had shaken him. The chain is long but real: opinion → pressure → decision → hand moves back.

Five levers that genuinely count

1. The money you don't see

Your current account, savings, life insurance and pension fund finance things. The Don't Bank on the Bomb (nuclear weapons) and Reclaim Finance (fossil fuels) campaigns publish lists of the most exposed banks. Switching banks takes an hour and repeats itself every time you explain why. It is the individual action with the best effort-to-effect ratio.

2. Your voice where it is scarce

An online petition counts for little. A response to a public consultation counts for a lot, because they often receive a few hundred submissions and each must be read: European Commission consultations (AI Act, green taxonomy), local planning inquiries, nuclear regulator consultations, US federal rulemaking comments. Likewise, a reasoned letter to a representative, senator or mayor gets read — elected officials receive very little substantive mail.

3. Your career

The most powerful lever and the least discussed. If you are a developer, AI safety is short of people; if you are a biologist, so is biosecurity; if you are a lawyer, so are disarmament and technology governance. If you work in any company, you can influence its energy procurement, travel and data policies. The 80,000 Hours project has documented this reasoning: forty years of working life are your single largest resource.

4. The information you pass on

The Bulletin identifies disinformation as a multiplier of every other risk. A simple rule that is hard to keep: never share alarming information without checking its source, even to raise awareness. In a crisis (pandemic, nuclear alert) it is the most directly protective individual act there is.

5. Your vote, at every level

Climate policy is decided as much at city hall (planning, transport, heating) as in parliament; research and deterrence budgets nationally; treaties between states — but ratified by legislatures. Checking candidates' positions on the TPNW, AI regulation or fossil-fuel phase-out before voting is a two-minute action.

What this site will not tell you

That recycling will save humanity. That you are personally responsible for 85 seconds. That nothing matters. All three are false. The clock has moved back nine times because millions of people each did one thing more than nothing.

In the simulator

Every lever in the simulator carries an 'At your scale' action built on these principles, adapted to the risk concerned. Sources are given; the weights in seconds are explained on the method page.