Renewed Humanism

In 1999, one of us (Morin) introduced the term polycrisis to describe the web of interconnected catastrophes threatening our world.

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At the time, the concept was meant to serve as a warning; but it has since become our reality. We are facing a confluence of escalating ecological, political, economic, technological, and existential crises, each of which is reinforcing the others.

The polycrisis is best understood as a cascade: a tangle of intertwined nonlinear causes and ripple effects. Climate change leads to human displacement and forced migration, which fuels xenophobia and nationalism, weakening global cooperation and further accelerating ecological collapse. Economic inequality erodes trust, fueling authoritarianism and violence. Technological innovation offers solutions, but also causes new problems: fractured communities, destabilized work patterns, and distorted public discourse. The COVID-19 pandemic, new wars, growing mental-health crises, and democratic backsliding are not isolated phenomena, but rather symptoms of a deeper systemic rupture.

To grapple with so much complexity, we must first reject reductive thinking. Our institutions, divided by rigid disciplines and linear cause-and-effect models, are no longer fit for purpose. We need an approach that acknowledges networks and relationships, accepts contradictions, and recognizes the limits of our understanding; one that combines critical rigor with creative intuition, and scientific clarity with poetic vision. We must meet complexity with humility, not denial.