ABSTRACT
The vicious cycle of multiple escalating conditions of the Anthropocene is driving attempts to cope with the changes, but the responses are uncoordinated. The global society becomes increasingly fragmented, and its assumptions lead to the creation of ‘remedies’ that actually exacerbate the problem. A fresh look at adaptive capacity is required, but the systemic nature of this change of viewpoint must first be taken into account. Fragmentation renders anticipation difficult. Edgar Morin show that reductionism fragments and therefore evades the full challenge of complexity; even holism can easily become an abstraction which also does not address the essential requirement of including the observer in the observation. In either case, reductionist or holistic explanation seeks to simplify the problem of complex unity. Multi-cultural learning is as important as transdisciplinary learning.
