Wild

The Anthropocene Project. An Encyclopedia

Wild and tame, the raw and the cooked: what is definitive, nature or culture? And what is actually wild today? There is hardly anything on the planet untouched by man. The acidity of the oceans is rising, the landscape bears the inscription of cities, agriculture, and roads. 10 to 30 percent of the species around the world are threatened with extinction, many are looking for secondary habitats. The rainforest is not only decimated, but also in the exchange with worldwide cycles of pollutants and nutrients that humanity produces. Where are the lines separating nature and civilization? And seen in moral terms: does not a drone attack with all civilized cleverness contain an element of incredible savagery? And its destruction most of all? Are those who control the technology any less wild? If wild is a state of unaccountability, then, despite all the weather predictions, prognoses, and horoscopes that humanity produces, we live in a wild age indeed.