Transitioning from the Anthropocene to the Symbiocene

Our inboxes and social media streams are full of the current and impending disasters we face on a daily basis. Our threat alert system in our brain, the amygdala, is hijacked by the “news” dozens of times a day, and dialled down when we feel more secure and comfortable by consuming stuff. Nothing new here, we say. Except it’s getting hotter too often in between the worsening floods and droughts, the weather is weirding and most of us are struggling to survive both physically and financially with negative effects on our mental health.

Scientists have officially labeled the geological epoch we are now in the Anthropocene. The term “Anthropocene” combines the Greek root “anthropo,” meaning “human,” with the suffix “-cene,” which is commonly used in geology to denote an epoch.

The Anthropocene is characterized by humanity’s significant negative impact on our Earth’s systems, environment, and biodiversity. During this epoch, human activities have driven global overheating, habitat destruction, and unsustainable natural resource extraction. We have disturbed the health of our planet’s physical, chemical, and biological systems, let alone our own physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Not good, right?

Even worse, the Anthropocene story, combined with the endless supply of bad news blasted at us 24x7, turns us off, makes us depressed, pushes vulnerable people into the arms of fascists and charismatic weirdos, and encourages us to seek…