Hi Reader,
What does it mean to be human? Existential questions like this are not immune to us—a questioned life is a lived life. In this installment of Interconnected, we’re exploring what it means to be more than human…and no, we don’t mean AI.
More than human is a concept that is gaining traction when referring to non-human living things—the billions of other living entities that co-inhabit this beautiful planet with us humans.
"More-than-human, as a theoretical concept, acknowledges human life and society as being deeply interconnected with non-human entities, such as animals, plants, technologies, and natural systems."
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This week we are exploring textured topics and questions, like how can we enact inter-species equity? What does it mean to think and behave in ways that respect and support all life on Earth? What does a more-than-human-centered design practice look like?
A questioned life is a lived life—let’s dive in.
READ
A more than human design practice
Ron Wakkary has been thinking about what design looks like beyond our human-centric obsession. In his book Things We Could Design: For More Than Human-Centered Worlds, he looks at how posthumanist design can enable a world in which humans share center stage with nonhumans.
“Over the past forty years, designers have privileged human values such that human-centered design is seen as progressive. Yet because all that is not human has been depleted, made extinct, or put to human use, today’s design contributes to the existential threat of climate change and the ongoing extinctions of other species. In
Things We Could Design, Ron Wakkary argues that human-centered design is not the answer to our problems but is itself part of the problem. Drawing on philosophy, design theory, and numerous design works, he shows the way to a relational and expansive design based on humility and cohabitation.” -
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Showing just how emergent and trending this concept is, the Design Museum in London is about to open an exhibition entitled—you guessed it— More Than Human. Running from July to October 2025, it responds to the question, “Why has design traditionally only focused on the needs of humans, when we exist alongside billions of animals, plants and other living beings?” In turn, it “offers a new perspective, one that will be crucial to enabling the planet to thrive.”
"The Feral Atlas: The More-Than-Human Anthropocene"
This is wild (err, feral?...)—an interactive site where you can explore a multitude of more-than-human beings and discover how they interact with all the other non-human beings.
Click this link and be transported into a floating and changing array of everyday non-human things that can range from bullfrogs and Dutch Elm Disease to an induced mud volcano, radioactive insects and marine plastic! The elements are random, so prepare to be surprised—and make sure you click on one before they float out of the screen.
Part art, part biology and part something else… Feral Atlas is an Alice-in-Wonderland-style rabbit hole of delights
"Feral Atlas invites you to navigate the land-, sea-, and airscapes of the Anthropocene. We trust that as you move through the site—pausing to look, read, watch, reflect, and perhaps occasionally scratch your head—you will slowly find your bearings, both in relation to the site’s structure and the foundational concerns and concepts to which it gives form. Feral Atlas has been designed to reward exploration. Following seemingly unlikely connections and thinking with a variety of media forms can help you to grasp key underlying ideas, ideas that are specifically elaborated in the written texts to be found in the “drawers” located at the bottom of every page."
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Enter the interactive world here.
"The Spell of the Sensuous"
In 1996, ecophilosopher and cultural ecologist David Abram first used the term “more than human” in his book The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World.
This book explores how our sensory perceptions help to shape our understanding of the environment and Abram argues that fundamental to our ecological wellbeing is our ability to engage with the world through our senses.
“For a thousand generations, human beings viewed themselves as part of the wider community of nature, and they carried on active relationships not only with other people but with other animals, plants, and natural objects (including mountains, rivers, winds, and weather patterns) that we have only lately come to think of as ‘inanimate’. How, then, did humans come to sever their ancient reciprocity with the natural world? What will it take for us to recover a sustaining relationship with the breathing earth?”
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This book chapter also shares more from Abrams on his coining of the term “more than human” (More Than Human Rights: An Ecology of Law, Thought, and Narrative for Earthly Flourishing, César Rodríguez-Garavito, ed. (New York: NYU Law, 2024).
LISTEN
"The Serviceberry"
The Serviceberry, Abundance and Reciprocity in Nature is a short inspiring look at the interconnection between all living things and is read beautifully by the author Robin Wall Kimmerer in this audio book (here’s a free 5-minute sample).
A note from Leyla: I was captivated and moved by the world that Robin Wall Kimmerer expresses in her book, sharing her First Nations knowledge in a way that weaves together so many of the complexities of our modern lives with the possibilities of approaching issues differently. The hero of the narrative is the serviceberry, which acts as a metaphor, memory and possibility of what is possible if we change the way we relate to each other and nature. There are many stellar moments in her work—well worth the listen!
REFLECT + ENGAGE
Go forest bathing and observe systems
Seriously, it's a thing. In places like New Zealand, UK and Japan, spending time in nature can be prescribed by a physician because science keeps showing us just how much we humans need to be in nature for our physical health and mental wellbeing. Here is National Geographic’s guide to forest bathing. need to be in nature. Here is National Geographic’s guide to forest bathing.
"The systematic review and meta-analysis, published today in
The Lancet Planetary Health, found that nature prescriptions provided both physical and mental health benefits. Patients had reduced blood pressure, as well as lower depression and anxiety scores – and they had a higher daily step count. “
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The plus side of forest bathing or nature soaking is that you get to observe the incredible non-human world and appreciate the interconnected complexity of it all. We have several activities that really help you tune into the systems around you in our 30 Days of Systems Thinking challenge.
One of our favorite activities, "Systems Observations", is on Day 5. We’ve made it a free preview lesson so you can enroll and enjoy this activity for free. Here's how:
- Log in or create an account on online.unschools.co
- Click on the pink “Free Preview” button for 30 Days of Systems Thinking to enroll
- Scroll down to Day 5, “Systems Perspectives”
- Do the "Systems Observations" activity