June 16, 2017
WE ARE ALL DESIGNIST NOW:
'A reckoning for our species': the philosopher prophet of the Anthropocene : Timothy Morton wants humanity to give up some of its core beliefs, from the fantasy that we can control the planet to the notion that we are 'above' other beings. His ideas might sound weird, but they're catching on. (Alex Blasdel, 6/15/17, The Guardian)
The Anthropocene idea is generally attributed to the Nobel prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen and the biologist Eugene Stoermer, who started popularising the term in 2000. From the outset, many took Crutzen and Stoermer's concept seriously, even if they disagreed with it. Since the late 20th century, scientists have viewed geological time as a drama punctuated by great cataclysms, not merely a gradual accretion of incremental changes, and it made sense to see humanity itself as the latest cataclysm.Imagine geologists from a future civilisation examining the layers of rock that are in the slow process of forming today, the way we examine the rock strata that formed as the dinosaurs died off. That civilisation will see evidence of our sudden (in geological terms) impact on the planet - including fossilised plastics and layers both of carbon, from burning carbon fuels, and of radioactive particles, from nuclear testing and explosions - just as clearly as we see evidence of the dinosaurs' rapid demise. We can already observe these layers forming today.For a couple of years, a lively debate over the usefulness of the concept unfolded. Detractors argued that humanity's "geological signal" was not yet loud enough to justify the coronation of a new epoch, or that the term had no scientific use. Supporters wondered when they should date the Anthropocene's start. To the advent of agriculture, many millennia ago? To the invention of the steam engine in the 18th century and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution? To 5.29am on 16 July 1945, the moment when the first-ever nuclear test exploded over the New Mexico desert? (Morton, in his all-embracing way, treats each of these moments as pivotal.) Then, in 2002, Crutzen set out his arguments in the scientific journal Nature. The idea of a moment in planetary history in which human influence was predominant seemed to tie together so many disparate developments - from retreating glaciers to fresh thinking about the limits of capitalism - that the term quickly spread to other earth sciences, and then beyond.
From the geocentric universe to the homocentric...
Posted by Orrin Judd at June 16, 2017 5:32 AM