In part 1 of this series on Glenn A. Albrecht’s book Earth Emotions the word solastalgia was introduced. This word was Albrecht’s starting place in the naming a whole new area of human emotional experience. He gives us the words to describe our feelings while we are witnessing the extinction of complex life and ecosystems on this planet.
In review, solastalgia is the unsettling negative feeling of loss of home or one’s familiar living surroundings. Solastalgia can be caused by very local and personal events or by very large and overwhelming changes on a regional or global scale.
One of the challenges of reading Earth Emotions is the introduction of a lot new words to the reader. But, in all fairness Albrecht warned the reader in the sub-title, New Words for a New World. It is with this in mind I recommend reading this book over a week, a month, or longer. Take a little time to let the new words sink in. It takes a few good nights of sleep to move through the stages of learning that his collection of new words demand.
Before I present two short lists Albrecht’s new words I need to define two words that will frame the conversation and set the stage for future Resistance Words articles about individuals words. And I need to mention that each word introduce in this series should be initially thought about in two ways. The first way is a local view and the second is a global usage.
I’m reminded of the old saying “think globally, act locally,” and I think it applies although it needs to say more. Acting locally while important is not the same as acting globally. I think the interplay between the local and the global is the defining issue of our time. One of the goals of Resistance Words is to supply words appropriate for setting global policy that compliment the words we use for local governance.
At the top of the colorful chart to the right is the epoch we are in, highlighted with a light yellow, called the holocene. The holocene started about 11,000 years ago with the ending of a glacial period. The holocene is distinguished by the retreat of the ice and the relatively good weather that has allowed life to flourish in all of its diversity. And, it is my understanding that had humanity not been fruitful and multiplied the relatively good weather of the holocene might have lasted for hundreds of thousands of years before the next ice age.
The anthropocene is the proposed new name of the next epoch. Or I should say is the epoch we are now in. It is defined as the period of time during which human activity is the dominant influence on climate and the environment. The anthropocene starts approximately with the dawn of the industrial revolution around 1750 as indicated in the diagram below. Click here to enlarge the diagram to see the numerous human caused factors that are changing our planets weather.
It is important to understand that all previous epochs, periods, eras and eons the weather cycles and changes were of natural origin. The weather changes in the anthropocene are uniquely caused by human activity such as burning coal and oil.
Humanity in the anthropocene is also facing a similar struggle. It is my hope and Albrecht’s hope that having words to name our emotions helps move humanity to action to take the steps necessary to to reduce humanities negative impact on the planets environment.
Before one can understand the tables of words below one has to understand Psychoterratic.
Psychoterratic dis-ease arises from a negative relationship to our home environment, be it at local, regional or global scales. The negative relationship involves a loss of identity, loss of an endemic sense of place and a decline in well being. Conversely, an enduring and positive relationship to a loved home environment delivers the benefits of a strong endemic sense of place and well-being. From Albrecht’s website
Psychoterratic dis-ease arises from a negative relationship to our home environment, be it at local, regional or global scales. The negative relationship involves a loss of identity, loss of an endemic sense of place and a decline in well being. Conversely, an enduring and positive relationship to a loved home environment delivers the benefits of a strong endemic sense of place and well-being.
From Albrecht’s website
The learning of a new word / concept pair starts with the perception of the existence of the object or concept linked with a name. Ones understanding moves through acquiring a beginning and end frame. And the third frame is often distinguished by comparing and contrasting it with a negative of the original object or concept. Below are some negative and positive new words do describe our earth emotions.
Negative Psychoterratic Words
Below a partial table of positive psychoterratic words.
Positive Psychoterratic Words
Regards,
Jonathan Gordon
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