December 16, 2016 - 22:02
In the most recent century, there have been rapid technological advances. After the Industrial Revolution, more countries began to shift their economic output towards mass production, which ultimately resulted in pollution, depletion of natural resources, and now, as the carbon tipping point has been reached, irreversible destruction of Earth. Many countries are “going green” in an effort to preserve what is left, however, it is difficult to make these changes as, for centuries, it has been Western Civilization’s “manifest destiny” to expand beyond that of territorial claims, and into areas such as science and technology. What Bruno Latour calls for in his article, “Agency at the Time of the Anthropocene,” is a complete reshaping of this human behavior and thought process. Latour thinks beyond the basic principles of recycling and living an ecofriendly lifestyle that humans can practice at an individual level in order to truly address global warming in the deepest psychological way.
It was once thought that the planets and sun revolved around the Earth. Although the Geocentric theory was disproven, the mentality behind it remains prevalent. The idea that the Earth is here to provide and support humans, above all other beings, is still held by many people. Humans continue to deplete the Earth’s natural resources with little care of long term and permeant damages they are causing. Latour touches upon the experiences of Galileo. When he proposed heliocentric theories, he was ridiculed and shunned by the authorities of the Holy Inquisition. People didn’t want to believe that humans were not the center of the universe and they especially didn’t want to believe that science dictated worldly processes, rather they held that it was God. Latour connects this to activists and scientists today, who have proven global warming and climate change exist, but whose voices are silenced by corporations or bigots. He writes, "The new Inquisition (now economic rather than religious) is shocked to learn that the Earth has become – has become again!- an active, local, limited, sensitive, fragile, quaking, and easily tickled envelope"( Latour, 3). It has been broadcasted and taught recently that the Earth is sensitive and dying, and many people have decided to deny that either because of their own greed or disbelief.
Latour's piece really reshapes and reimagines the heteronormative representation of God. In many religions, God is heavily personified although it is not directly said that God is even human. God is often giving he/his pronouns. God is given personality traits. There are many indigenous groups and even certain religious groups who historically have been looked down upon because they worship the wonders of the Earth or multiple animal gods as opposed to the one, personified god many others worship. When different European countries began to colonize different territories, they automatically considered indigenous people to be savages because they didn't pray to the same God, instead worshipping the land as their all-mighty. Their motivation was not to claim land, but to exist with it and give thanks to the earth for providing nutrients and life. The Inca Empire was a flourishing empire and one of the largest pre-Columbian America. They worshiped several different deities that reigned the sky, inner earth, and outer earth, but the most important was the sun god and moon goddess. Although the Inca Empire had an advanced military, political system, architecture, and agricultural system, they did not fit the mold of what a proper civilization should be based on western principles. Since they worshiped inanimate gods, they were seen as savages. The act of human sacrifice also was looked down upon by the Spaniards. Human sacrifice is not in any way an acceptable practice by any culture, however, the act of setting low value on human life and killing them in front of large groups of people is nothing new, even in traditionally admired classical empires. Romans gathered to watch men and women fight to the death for entertainment; many countries practiced public executions. The fact that these practices stemmed from pagan beliefs us what led the Spaniards looked down at the Inca people. The return to worshiping the sun, the moon and the Earth could be away for humans to better connect with Earth. Religion should not be abolished in any way, rather these focuses should be regarded more highly and appreciated. So many civilizations were able to flourish, and still able to flourish, with their great appreciation and devotion to the Earth for what it has given to them.
Latour suggests that we shift away from thinking of the Earth, nature, and humanity as separate realms, and think of the larger connections the brings everything together harmoniously. He says humans need to shift their thinking "away from the domains of nature and society toward the common source of agency, this 'metamorphic zone' where we are able to detect actants before they become actors" (Latour, 13). Humans need to see how greatly their actions affect other life and how this destruction in return will impact humans. Latour brings up James Lovelock who when looking at Gaia in terms of animation, he refused to "deanimate many of the connections between entangled agents that make up the sublunar domain of Gaia" (Latour, 14). Gaia can not be looked at as a separate entity from humans. Our actions are entangled in the actions of Gaia.
It is unclear what exactly Latour wants us to do at this point. He kind of leaves it up for interpretation. Overall, he wants us to think larger than simply recycling, buying new light bulbs, and using less fossil fuels. He wants us to connect with the Earth as many of the indigenous groups we look down upon have done. He wants us to bring the past to the present to better the future. This is a very hard task to take on as for years in Western Civilization we have been taught to progress and never digress. It's almost ironic because the phrase "learn from the past" is heavily used in education but if anything we have ignored the past in an effort to progress. Humans have become big headed in the since that they want to hail themselves for the scientific and technological advances they’ve made. But philosophy for the past is looked down upon or called antiquated. Latour is not asking humans to live off the land as indigenous groups have done, and completely eliminate any use of technology, but instead teach and learn the philosophy of these people. The Earth, Gaia, is not an entity greater than humans rather a coexisting, living being. The Earth is not here for humans, rather humans are on Earth to add to Animalia diversity. A final quote that stood out to me in Latour's piece was, "The prefix "geo" in geostory does not stand for the return to nature, but for the return of object and subject back to the ground- the "metamorphic zone" (Latour, 16), meaning that humans contribute to the sentiment of Earth, they make up the soil and rock as other animals and plants on Earth have. This also means that any destruction they have last longer than human lifetime and is embedded in the Earth's make up. Humans should work with the Earth and recognize its sensitivity, but also its vitality.
Citations:
Latour Bruno. “Agency at the Time of the Anthropocene.” New Literary History 45.1 (2014): 1-18. Web.
"Inca Civilization - Crystalinks." Inca Civilization - Crystalinks. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.