The Anthropocene is a time of uncertainty and potential destruction
Humanity's technological progress
The Anthropocene is a time of uncertainty and potential destruction, with humanity's technological progress compared to climbing a mountain. The most obvious way out is to turn back and retrace our steps to an earlier stage of civilization, with fewer people using fewer resources. This would mean acknowledging that humanity is unequal in shaping the world and can thrive only by living within the limits set by nature. However, this voluntary turning back might be so contrary to our nature that it can never happen. It is far more plausible that the human journey was fated to end up in this dangerous spot since we began to change the ecosystem with farming and fire.
Australian philosopher Toby Ord uses the image of the crumbling ledge in his book The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity (2020). He believes that for the first time in humanity's long history, we have the capacity to destroy ourselves, with the odds of this happening in the next 100 years being about one in…
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