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Articles

The Horror of Relations

Jonathan Beever explores the light and dark sides of interconnectedness.

As a result of the explosive growth of ecological thinking, the idea of interdependence is all around us. Fundamental to the idea is the view that, in some way, ‘we’re all connected’ – to each other, to other organisms, and to our environments, both analog and digital. And usually implicit here is the idea that this connectedness is a good and beautiful thing. Being connected makes us stronger, healthier, more engaged, and more thoughtful. Yet lurking under this positive view of our relatedness is a darker view – that being inextricably interconnected is existentially horrifying.

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