The Entangled Human-Technological-Natural World

The shifting baseline syndrome as a connective concept for more informed and just responses to global environmental change

“…In relation to re‐envisioning the shifting baseline syndrome as a ‘connective concept’ (Simon, 2020), we see this could add valuable context to systemic or complex environmental challenges and the approaches we must take to overcome them. Environmental managers deal daily with situations at the intersection of human and natural systems.…”

“…We believe the shifting baseline syndrome should be more widely applied in the complex business of engaging with the human‐altered state of 21st‐century environments but identify several known and lesser‐known limitations in its current use that must be addressed (Section 2). We also believe that the shifting baseline syndrome is an important working example of a ‘connective concept’ 2 (Simon, 2020). Like boundary objects (objects or concepts that facilitate communication between different communities, Trompette & Vinck, 2009)—although without as strong an emphasis on a common structure that is often found or applied to boundary objects such as a typology (e.g.…”

“…We also believe that the shifting baseline syndrome is an important working example of a 'connective concept' 2 (Simon, 2020). Like boundary objects (objects or concepts that facilitate communication between different communities, Trompette & Vinck, 2009)-although without as strong an emphasis on a common structure that is often found or applied to boundary objects such as a typology (e.g.…”

“… 2 2 Zoltán Boldizsár Simon defines connective concepts as those that “link not only certain disciplines, but … also the work of the humanities and the work of the sciences” (Simon, 2020). He notes they are rare “and extremely difficult to intentionally develop”, yet critical to transcending the sciences that treat the natural world as independent of humanity, and the knowledge systems that focus so much on humanity that the natural world is ignored or regarded as unchanging. …”

On the Anthropocene Event: a response to Thomas (2023)

“…The debate on the Anthropocene challenges history to rethink its notions of time and event, especially in terms of scale. Rising to the challenge, Zoltán Boldizsár Simon attempts to expand the traditionally narrow concept of historical events -typically held to be small-scale and to have already occurred in the past-towards a wider concept of momentous transformative events that are 'more-than-human' and which may be ongoing, or building up to unfold further in the future, such as mass extinction events (Simon, 2020). In similar vein, other historians speak of 'the unapproachable scale of the event, as well as the different temporal scales it entails-the planetary/environmental, the long-term/generational, and the short-term/momentary' (Pelekanidis & Ferraz Felippe, 2023: 271).…”