What propelled the human ‘revolutions’ that started the Anthropocene? and
what could speed humanity out of trouble? Here, we focus on the role of
reinforcing feedback cycles, often comprised of diverse, unrelated elements
(e.g. fire, grass, humans), in propelling abrupt and/or irreversible, revolu tionary changes. We suggest that ...
What propelled the human ‘revolutions’ that started the Anthropocene? and
what could speed humanity out of trouble? Here, we focus on the role of
reinforcing feedback cycles, often comprised of diverse, unrelated elements
(e.g. fire, grass, humans), in propelling abrupt and/or irreversible, revolu tionary changes. We suggest that differential ‘spread of the cycles’ has
been critical to the past human revolutions of fire use, agriculture, rise of
complex states and industrialization. For each revolution, we review and
map out proposed reinforcing feedback cycles, and describe how new sys tems built on previous ones, propelling us into the Anthropocene. We
argue that to escape a bleak Anthropocene will require abruptly shifting
from existing unsustainable ‘vicious cycles’, to alternative sustainable ‘virtu ous cycles’ that can outspread and outpersist them. This will need to be
complemented by a revolutionary cultural shift from maximizing growth
to maximizing persistence (sustainability). To achieve that we suggest that
non-human elements need to be brought back into the feedback cycles
underlying human cultures and associated measures of progress.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolution and sustainability:
gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis’.
