Human biohistory

Human biohistory is learning about human situations against the background of the story of life on Earth. One of its key features is recognition that the evolutionary emergence of the human capacity for culture was one of the great watersheds in the history of life. Human culture has become a new kind of force in the biosphere - with profound and far reaching impacts not only on humans themselves but also on the rest of the living world. The chapter briefly discusses some important biohistorical principles, including cultural maladaptation and cultural reform, technoaddiction and the evolutionary health principle. Cultural evolution has recently resulted in patterns of human activity across the globe of a magnitude and of a kind that are unsustainable. If present trends continue unabated the ecological collapse of civilisation is inevitable. The future wellbeing of humankind will depend on big changes in the scale, intensity and nature of human activities on Earth. The best hope for the future lies in a rapid transition to a society that is truly in tune with, sensitive to and respectful of the processes of life which underpin our existence. This is referred to as a biosensitive society. However, there will be no transition to biosensitivity unless there come about profound changes in the worldview, assumptions and priorities of our society’s dominant culture.