The Anthropocene
In their video, “The Anthropocene and the Near Future” John and Hank Green explore the possibilities of posthumanistic ideas. The unofficial geological era in which humans have great influence over the biosphere is called the Anthropocene. Our grandparents, parents, and we ourselves have lived in one of the most complex centuries of our planet’s history (0:52-0:54). Technology is enabling us to do more than we ever could before. At this rate human-cyborg evolution is completely possible (2:20); this ties in with Haraway’s cyborg theory in the fact that humanity is or could be building something technologically greater than us.
Green asks will life continue to “get better”? Will our innovations keep helping us? Or will we exhaust our earth and destroy it? (5:30). In an unofficial geological era that has not been established yet, this could very well be true. Green’s questioning highlights why transhumanistic theory and open-mindedness are routes we need to be on.
Green also talks about climate change and how humanity is using up nonrenewable resources faster than we can replenish them (6:30 – 6:50). “As humanity continues to force the environment to adapt to our needs…” Bringing up the point of human potency, this statement puts some guilt on the viewer. We are struggling to find ways to sustain humans and find energy to fuel that process (9:35). Perhaps with a cybernetic or somehow evolved human, we could become more sustainable?
And then there is the question of our motivation as a society. “We are acting as if we will be saved by some technology…” (10:30). We cannot act this way. Yes, there may someday in fact be a technology that saves us from our own haunting consumerism, but as I talked about hope being a passive outlet, we cannot rely on simply hoping for a new technology to spring forth from the depths of our laboratories. We must educate ourselves through the new ideas found within posthumanism and literature.
And finally, Green says, “It is our duty to survive and see where this rising complexity leads…” (11:36). Yes, but to do so, we must have a stable and healthy environment!
