Completely agree with your comment about "hitting a wall at running speed" . I switched my music production PC to Linux in a fit of pique at Microsoft. I have used Linux/unix for 25 years at this point, but this move and the resulting technical hurdles took my output to 0% and it hasn't recovered in a couple of months.

I don't want to switch back but I also really miss my hobby and main creative outlet

Isn't that the same as "organizing a campaign"?

I feel like this is a phenomenon that should have a name, but I don't know what it is...

As you get older and more experienced, you get better at driving. The average driver, though, generally does not get better because of turnover due to age on both ends. This means that from your relative perspective people seem to be getting steadily worse at driving.

Of course there is day to day fluctuation, and some factors (e.g. cell phone use) may have large impacts, but I'm convinced that most of what we feel is connected to the former effect.

Going full Infinite Jest

The harm comes from the mental health and societal impacts of the "always be afraid" mentality pushed by public figures and the media

Academic publishers are parasites.

I have been working through a textbook this week that has a copyleft statement on every page, and was written by a government scientist who did not get paid to do it. When you access it through the publisher website there is a copyright and they're charging $200 for access.

Replacing the human expert with a word-guessing machine is a logical progression in their unabashed rent seeking.

The university is exploiting your idealism to get you to work without being paid enough. You aren't "in a position to help people", you are doing a job for an organization with revenues. They could allocate more revenue to accomplish this work without forcing you to work until 1 AM, but they have made the choice that the work is not worth paying for.

That being said, most good people will go the extra mile if they think it can make a difference, but I see too many who take full responsibility on themselves and "cover" for financially-motivated organizational decisions, which in turn encourages the people who make those decisions to cut even more.

That's a reference to the Blues Brothers movie

according to a report by the Pesticide Action Network UK (Pan UK), the Women’s Environmental Network and the Pesticide Collaboration

At least two of the groups behind the study have an axe to grind here. This isn't good science.

Based on my experience with GCMS, if you fart into some activated carbon, you might be able to store it for a long time. To release the smell you'd heat your "sample" up to about 250°C, which you could do in a hot oven or maybe stovetop burner

Sorry we all live in the same world you do