우리는 지구상에 존재하는 수많은 생물 종 중 단 하나의 종입니다. 그러나 인간의 오만과 무지는 지구를 위험에 빠뜨렸고 은하계의 작은 행성 지구에서 찰나를 사는 하나의 생명체라는 것을 잊어버렸습니다. 더불어, 생명체로서 함께 살아가는 생명의 소중한 꿈도 잊었습니다. 우리는 지구에서 과연 어떤 존재여야 할까요? 우리는 알고자 합니다. 우리가 어떤 힘으로 우주의 작은 한자락 지구에서 잠시나마 이렇게 찬란한 생명을 누리고 있는가를, 우리가 이 생명을 누리기 위해 얼마나 많은 빚을 지구 그리고 우리 후손들에게 지고 있는가를 말입니다. 그래서 우리의 현재 모습을 가감 없이 돌아보고자 합니다.
생태대연구회는 인간의 기원과 존재의 의미를 추구하고, 현재의 지구를 넘어 생명이 함께 어울려 살아가는 새로운 문명, 생태대를 찾아 가기 위한 연구회입니다. 과학자, 인문학자, 사회학자 등 각 영역의 전문가들이 통합적 접근 방식을 통해 인류와 지구 공존을 위한 미래 과학기술사회 모델과 공동체 원리에 관한 대안을 연구합니다. 생태대연구회는 2014년 12월부터 매월 월례 독서 세미나와 관련 전문가 초청특강을 진행하고 있습니다.
The term “Ecozoic era” was coined by Thomas
Berry in conversation with Brian Swimme for their book The Universe Story
in order to describe the geologic era that Earth is entering – when humans live
in a mutually enhancing relationship with Earth and the Earth community.
Earth is entering a new geologic era because the previous one, the
Cenozoic era (spanning the last ~65 million years), has been terminated by the
western-style industrialized human community in the late 19th, 20th, and early
21st century.
As you may know, the etymology of Ecozoic is
“eco-“ derived from the Greek word “oikos” meaning house, household, or home,
and “-zoic” from the Greek word “zoikos” meaning pertaining to living beings.
Thus Ecozoic era is defined as the era of the house of living beings.
It was coined by Thomas while in extended conversation with Brian Swimme
in the late 1980s. Brian says,
When Thomas and I were writing The Universe Story,
this would have been the late 1980s, we wanted to get the right name for the
emerging era. We went round and round and round trying out possibilities. This
was while we were working in motels or eating meals in restaurants or talking
on the phone in between meetings.
Then one night, I don’t know the exact date, the phone rang and I
answered and it was Thomas. He didn’t say “hello” or anything. He just launched
right into it. His voice was explosive with excitement. ‘I’ve got it! It’s the
Ecozoic Era!’ We both burst into laughter — our instant, mutual recognition of
just how right this term was. It was the first time the word was ever thought
of. It’s an example of Thomas’s geological consciousness.
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#2
I suggest the name “Ecozoic” as a better designation than “Ecological.” Eco-logos refers to an understanding of the interaction of things. Eco-zoic is a more biological term that can be used to indicate the integral functioning of life systems in their mutually enhancing relations.
The Ecozoic Era can be brought into being only by the integral life community itself. If other periods have been designated by such names as “Reptilian” or “Mammalian,” this Ecozoic period must be identified as the Era of the Integral Life Community. For this to emerge there are special conditions required on the part of the human, for although this era cannot be an anthropocentric life period, it can come into being only under certain conditions that dominantly concern human understanding, choice, and action.
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