Education
Now, up until this interview I had never heard of the word The Anthropocene but it has had me thinking a lot about why we are seeking out purpose in our lives at this time more than ever. For those of you like me who have never heard of this term, The Anthropocene defines Earth's most recent geologic time period as being human-influenced, or anthropogenic, based on overwhelming global evidence that atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic, biospheric and other earth system processes are now altered by humans.This thought is both terrifying and hopeful all at the same time. It is incredibly difficult to absorb the fact that scientists predict that human effects on the planet will be seen in the fossil record as far away as 10 or even 100 million years. But the one thing we can be responsible for as we become more aware and conscious of our impact in this Anthropocene is that the future needs us now more than ever, and that now is the time to take ownership of the impact that we have.And that brings me to the topic of today's conversation and today's guest. Her name is Gaia Vince and she is the author of two books Adventures In The Anthropocene and also the topic of today's conversation: Transcendence: How Humans Evolved through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time.Gaia Vince is an award-winning science journalist, author, broadcaster and speaker with a focus on how human systems and Earth’s planetary systems interact. She is an author and has written a slew of articles from names such as the BBC, The Guardian, New Scientist, Australian Geographic and Science.Over the course of today's episode, Gaia explains how, through four key elements -- fire, language, beauty, and time -- our species diverged from the evolutionary path of all other animals,to become who we are today. She explores how a primate took dominion over nature and turned itself into something marvellous.Gaia believes that we are living in a unique time in Earth’s history, in which climate change, globalisation, communications technology and the increasing human population are changing our world – and us – as never before.So as always, grab yourself a coffee or tea, and strap yourself in. We are about to embark on a journey through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time with the one and only Gaia Vince.