To understand and act on the idea of planetary health, we need to break out of our conventional frames of reference and make a major shift in our thinking.
#Planetary macroscopic perspective
In modern times, humans have separated us from nature and we have optimised society for ourselves and for humanity.
In reality, the part affects the whole and the whole affects the part, so we cannot separate them. What is needed is a bland new view of ourselves and of life, in which we see ourselves as part of a great network of interconnected parts, and see the whole as our own.
We call the macroscopic way of looking at society, ecosystems and the whole planetary system that we are connected to a macroscopic way of understanding planetary health the ‘planetary macroscopic perspective’.
Through foods we eat, we are materially connected to the WEB OF LIFE created by the ecosystem. In addition, today, information networks are connected on a global scale, our brains are externalised into networks, and we are also connected to the brains of AI.
The network created by all living and non-living organisms connected to you and yourself as a whole is expanding in both material space and information space.
And in Japan, ancient Buddhist philosophy has seen oneself and others, including the whole forest, not as separate things, but as ‘ji-eternal oneness’.
Planetary health can be captured by revisiting ancient ways of thinking and increasing our resolution to the world.
#Planetary Morality
We believe it is important for people to have a moral compass in order to maintain order in society.
Until now, we have built our society on moral values for humans and the society they create.
However, we now need to extend this moral sense beyond humans, for example in the context of interconnected ecosystems and coexistence with robots in the near future.
We define ‘Planetary Morality’ as norms that enable us to have a planetary macroscopic perspective (=SELF AS WE) on the whole planet, including humans, and to make decisions and take actions while creating order in human societies, ecosystems and the planet as a whole.
When we have a planetary macroscopic perspective, we can think and act as if it were our own business, not as selfishness for myself and altruism for others, but as ‘overall interests for self as we’, where my own interest are the interests of the whole, and the interests of the whole are my own interest.
Based on the research by the laboratory in Mathematical Engineering of Morality Emotions, Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, we are committed to the scientific and philosophical consideration of planetary morality, its application to technology, its use as an indicator of trust and confidence in people, companies and money, and the creation of a foundation for economic and social systems by people who have planetary morality as a fundamental principle of their behaviour. The aim is to create a foundation for economic and social systems by people who have Planeatry Morality as a fundamental principle of their actions.
Definition of ‘Planetary Morality’
An internal norm that ultimately determines one’s own judgements, evaluations and actions, while establishing not only the social order but also the order of the ecosystem and the planet as a whole, based on the principles and laws of nature as the norm for the entire planet, rather than determining the various external norms in society according to human convenience. ‘
