earth, humanity, compatibility
Explorating our relationship with earth
Since I began building Veridez, I’ve worked closely with things most of us take for granted every day: Water. Soil. Air. Minerals. Waste. Energy.
And beneath all of them sit two questions:
How do we, as a species, actually perceive Earth?
What do we think Earth is to us?
It occurred to me that it doesn’t matter what we say Earth is—our actions tell a different story.
The Stories We Act Out
We behave as if Earth is:
- A resource provider
- A buffer
- A stabilizer
- A hypermarket for whatever our economy needs
- And sometimes, a piece of real estate to use at will—no permits required
But none of these describe Earth’s real function. They’re bonuses. Conveniences we treat as core roles.
Earth’s actual job, the one everything else depends on, is far more fundamental:
Earth is the provider of our life-support. Full stop.
Once you see it through that lens, something becomes very clear.
Caring About Earth Is Not an Emotional Choice
It’s an imperative for us.
Why?
Because Earth has had many versions—many stable states—throughout its history.
But only one of them supports our life and the spectrum of living beings we rely on.
Climate change and global warming are not warnings about Earth collapsing. They are signals that this version of Earth—the one compatible with us—is shifting.
Earth doesn’t need us to nurture or regulate it.
We need us to stop pushing it toward a stability state outside the range we can survive.
The Real Question
So the real question becomes:
How might we structure our systems to remain viable while participating in a relationship that keeps Earth within a stability range compatible with our life-support needs?
The answer starts with something deeply human:
We are predictable and capable of moving mountains—provided we have stable ground to stand on and the right lever.
For us, that stable ground is clarity: of intention, purpose, motivation.
This is the starting point.
The Lever:
Understanding What’s Possible
Next, we need to understand what kind of lever is even possible—because every lever depends on where we stand and what we’re trying to move.
And that brings us to the concept of Adaptive Range.
Adaptive Range is the behavioral space within which a system can adjust and respond while maintaining its core function and viability. It’s the “wiggle room” a system has to adapt to changing conditions without collapsing.
For us as individuals, adaptive range is determined by clarity of purpose and the structural constraints we operate within.
For organizations, it’s determined by the compatibility between their operational model and the systems they depend on—including Earth’s life-support systems.
For Earth itself, adaptive range is the spectrum of states that can support complex life as we know it.
Why This Matters for System Design
When we design systems—economic, industrial, social—without understanding adaptive range, we make a critical error:
We assume that if something works now, we can scale it indefinitely. We assume Earth will always provide what we need, buffer what we emit, and stabilize what we destabilize.
But Earth’s adaptive range for supporting human life is finite.
And we’re pushing against its boundaries.
This isn’t about Earth “dying.” Earth will continue. The question is whether the version of Earth that emerges will be one we can survive on.
The Path Forward: Clarity First
At Veridez, we don’t start by asking organizations to “be sustainable” or “save the planet.”
We start by helping them see their actual relationship with Earth’s systems—not the story they tell themselves, but the reality their operations create.
Because once you see that Earth is your life-support provider, not your hypermarket, the design questions change:
- Not “How much can we extract?” but “How do we operate within regenerative limits?”
- Not “How do we buffer our waste?” but “How do we design systems that don’t create waste Earth can’t process?”
- Not “How do we stabilize our supply chains?” but “How do we build reciprocity with the systems that supply us?”
This is the shift from extraction to participation. From treating Earth as infinite to recognizing it as finite—and structuring our systems accordingly
What’s Next
In the next post, we’ll explore Adaptive Range in depth—what it actually means, how to identify it, and why understanding it is critical for any system that wants to remain viable as conditions shift.
Because the continuous viability of any system depends on understanding the range within which it can adapt—and the boundaries beyond which it cannot.
