Thinking of Ourselves as Humanity in the Age of Complexity: A Tribute To David Loye

Abstract

The work and the life of David Loye were prophetic, able to read the signs announcing a new human condition and the need for an anthropological metamorphosis. His foresight was undoubtedly rooted in his profound cosmological and anthropological vision of evolution, which marked his life and his thought. I cherish the memory of the overwhelming emotion with which, in a conference in 1986 in Florence, he shared his vision: “To sense how we humans are the inheritors of all this power and movement over space and time is at once awesome and humbling, but also exciting and inspiring. The residue of such feelings is the special sense of responsibility many scientists share: that all this shall not perish because of us” (Loye, 1987, p. 67). These words have since inspired my research. The following thoughts express my deep gratitude to David’s work and life, which are intrinsically related.