Kursbuch 216

"Adaptation" has a bad reputation. Those who adapt conform instead of setting their own accents. It is almost a derogatory term, nearly synonymous with cowardice, and certainly with passivity. This course book therefore demands: Adapt! Because adaptation is only passive at first glance. Almost all contributions in this course book indicate that adaptation is a highly complex process. It becomes clear: We are already adapted! And even when we actively engage with things and do not want to conform, we still need to adapt to the circumstances. Without adaptive behavior and adaptive strategies, there is no overcoming of adaptation. This is clearly illustrated in the contribution by Joachim Müller-Jung, who explores the possibilities and limits of human adaptation to the consequences of climate change. Frauke Kreuter, on the other hand, asks how artificial intelligence and society relate to each other. Hans-Otto Thomashoff demonstrates that conflicts, binary schemas, friend/enemy distinctions, and social interaction in general always involve mutual adaptation efforts that can stabilize to such an extent that there is no way out. Sibylle Anderl draws attention to non-linear forms of order formation, feedback loops, and the fact that evolutionary processes tend to lead to increases in complexity as a natural law. Finally, paleo-climatologist Madeleine Böhme shows that there have been warming phases in Earth's history before and how they relate to the current anthropogenic changes. The intermezzo question this time was: How adapted are you? Responses from Katharina Berger, Juliane Engel, Suzanna Randall, Irmhild Saake, Philipp Staab, and Olaf Unverzart.