“We suddenly find ourselves sort of running a planet—a role we never anticipated or sought—without knowing how it should be done.”— David Grinspoon, Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet’s Future
This crystallizes the paradox at the heart of our present condition: while we wield unprecedented power to alter Earth’s trajectory, we lack a collective roadmap for how to do so wisely.
Grinspoon’s book lifts us out of conventional narratives of decline or inertia: it frames humanity not merely as spectators, but as the accidental stewards of a far more complex and fragile world than we have ever known.
In our first, we map the fractures in planetary boundaries, the ominous nearness of tipping points, and the urgency that demands transformative choices. Yet in deploying Grinspoon’s words, we also recognize a deeper truth: our current predicament is less about failing to avoid collapse, and more about awakening to the magnitude of the responsibility we now hold.
This invites us—and the reader—to pause, and to re-see the world from this vantage: as a planet under inadvertent management, guided by a species awakening to both its capacity and its duty. With this recognition comes a shift in mindset: from reactive despair to deliberate possibility, setting the stage for Part 2’s exploration of how we might—together and with purpose—steer Earth toward a resilient, equitable future.
Chapter 1: Where We Are Today
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- Overview of humanity’s current position and the critical choices ahead.
- Examination of the breached planetary boundaries and their implications.
- Discussion of climate tipping points and the urgency they present.
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Chapter 2: Living through Collapse
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- In this chapter, we ask, “What is likely to survive?” and
- What must we leave behind?
- Robert Read’s “Thrutopia”
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