Image description: Our place in the cosmic vastness has been continually questioned and redefined through the ages, and this evolutionary process is far from complete. Image source astronoo AI.
Anthropocentrism is a worldview in which humans are placed at the center of the Universe and believe everything exists for them. It is a perspective that assigns preeminent value to humanity over all other forms of life and the natural environment. Anthropocentrism manifests in religious beliefs, where humans are often considered divine creatures, and in world interpretations where they possess unique characteristics such as reason, consciousness, or soul. In an anthropocentric perspective, nature is often seen as a resource to be exploited to meet human needs and desires, without regard for the consequences on other species or ecosystems.
For millennia, humanity has been fascinated by the question of its place in the Universe and its role in the grand cosmic tapestry. Over the centuries, this quest has been marked by a series of discoveries and challenges that have shaken our worldview. Scientific and philosophical advancements have gradually eroded the idea of human exceptionalism.
• The first anthropic wound was the realization that Earth is not the center of the cosmos. The geocentric view prevailed for centuries, with the idea that Earth was stationary and the entire Universe revolved around it. In the 16th century, the heliocentric theory of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) challenged deeply held beliefs and certainties of the time. Copernicus proposed that the Sun, not Earth, was at the center of the solar system, thus questioning the anthropocentric view of the Universe.
• The second anthropic wound was the realization that humans do not hold a special place in the order of living species. This deeply rooted belief in many cultures held that humans were divine creatures made in the image of God. In 1859, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) published "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection." Although welcomed by many scientists and progressive thinkers, this revolutionary work generated feelings of shame and devaluation in the religious world of the time. Humans were no longer seen as perfect but shared a common ancestor with all other life forms on Earth.
• In the 1910s, American astronomer Harlow Shapley (1885-1972) showed that our Sun is a star relegated to an eccentric position in the Milky Way. It is far from the galactic center, which was then considered the center of the Universe. Humans realized that their Sun is just an ordinary dwarf star among billions of others.
• In the 1920s, Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) showed that our Milky Way is not the entire universe but just one of many star clusters in a much vaster cosmos. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, represents only a tiny part of the grand cosmic tapestry.
• In the 1990s, the discovery of exoplanets showed that all stars have planets. Faced with the vastness of the universe and the multitude of planets within it, the idea that humanity is unique and central in the grand cosmic scheme seems increasingly improbable. This diminishes the relative importance of humanity, reminding us that we are just a small part of a vast and teeming universe.
• In the 2000s, astronomical observations revealed the presence of organic molecules, the building blocks of life, in molecular clouds, planetary atmospheres, nebulae, comets, and meteorites. Meteorites, which are rock fragments from space, often contain complex organic molecules, including amino acids, hydrocarbons, and aromatic organic compounds. These molecules provide clues about the prebiotic chemistry that may have occurred in the primitive solar system. The ingredients necessary for life are spread throughout the Universe.
• Since the 2000s, increasingly precise astronomical observations have confirmed and refined the distribution of the universe into ordinary matter (~5%), dark matter (~23%), and dark energy (~72%). The history of the universe, rich in transformations, reveals that the matter we are made of is just a fragment of a much vaster and more complex cosmic reality.
• In 2016, a study estimated the microbiome (mainly the human gut microbiota) at approximately 39 trillion bacteria, compared to about 30 trillion cells in the average human body. The bacteria living within us significantly impact our physiology, immune system, and even behavior. The organism is not an individual, autonomous entity but a complex ecosystem of human cells and bacteria living in symbiosis. The traditional boundary between "self" and "non-self" is increasingly blurred.
• In recent years, communication is no longer limited to human language but is revealed as a universal capacity present in the animal and plant kingdoms, connecting all forms of life. Human language is characterized by its ability to facilitate the sharing of curiosity and knowledge, thus promoting cooperation and the collective accumulation of knowledge. We may be the only ones telling incredible stories.
• In 2021, even intelligence, once thought to be exclusively human, is being challenged by machines. Artificial intelligence models, based on a simplification of biological neuron functioning, show that intelligence is a natural emergence from a vast volume of data.
• Today, consciousness is no longer a purely philosophical object but a subject of scientific investigation. The ability of our brain to reflect on itself to understand its own functioning, history, and capacity to narrate what it perceives and feels is also a natural emergence. In neuroscience, consciousness is just the tip of the iceberg. The "unconscious" is the essence. The mechanisms that allow us to hear, see, understand language, and all hidden mechanisms operate unconsciously at high speed in our brain.
The role of humanity within the cosmos has always been a subject of questioning and reevaluation, and this quest for meaning continues to be enriched by new discoveries. All these "anthropic wounds" highlight the illusions and errors in which humans have been entrenched for centuries. We must adapt to these philosophical perspective changes felt individually and collectively. Life emerged from matter in a favorable environment. We now know that we are part of a greater whole from which humanity emerged. We entirely belong to our environment, so we must preserve it for as long as possible.
To read the full article, click here.