ABSTRACT
Exploring the origins of “interconnectedness” takes us on a journey through history, alternating between periods of a holistic understanding of our interrelatedness and more siloed, fragmented views of the world. These cosmovisions influence how humans relate to each other and their environment and their expressions can be seen in different disciplines: science, technology, philosophy, literature, arts, organization of society and states, etc.
Undoubtedly, the rationalistic and reductionist worldview in science had plenty of benefits through the discoveries and solutions that improved our health and longevity through vaccines and early diagnoses and treatments, simplified our lives through technology, communications, and transport, and led to many other innovations that impacted our lives for the better. At the same time, this worldview fostered an individualistic perspective, promoting values such as autonomy, independence, individual success, competition, personal achievement, and control.
When values become widely accepted, they shape a collective profile of identity, which may be more or less conscious. It becomes “the norm,” like a widespread paradigm that is no longer seen as an individual choice. However this particular paradigm—individualist, competitive, oriented toward growth, wealth, and accumulation—has also been linked to our unsustainability. This Principle shows educators how to address it with students and embed a lens of interconnectedness.
