Liminality is widespread across the natural and human-created systems in our world. When considering which sets of global systems are in unpredictable “in-between” states, two realms in particular stand out for their significance: advanced digital technologies and Earth’s climate systems. Both sets of systems are undergoing astonishing changes that have profound impacts on individuals, societies, and the planet itself.
The complexity and ubiquity of digital technologies have intensified over several decades, and innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) during the last few years are rapidly changing fundamental aspects of work, healthcare, education, entertainment, and social interactions. These innovations have led to exciting breakthroughs in medical research, data analysis, and computer science. While these tools are swiftly being embedded in a broad swathe of human endeavors at all scales, experts are still working to solve the “black box problem”: people use data to train AI applications, then provide prompts to receive output, but how the application moves from training to processing the received prompts to generating output is poorly understood. This makes efficiently refining the tools more challenging, and also makes it more difficult to trust the validity, replicability, and reliability of AI outputs. Between the fast-paced adoption of these tools and the concerns that arise from the “black box problem,” there is vast uncertainty about the ripple effects and cost-benefit ratios for individuals, corporations, and communities.
There is no central control for any manifestation of AI, let alone every technology that fits under that umbrella term. Some people are leaning into techno-optimism, enthusiastic that new developments could solve age-old problems. Others are demanding a slowdown or reversal of AI integration into systems that are essential for human thriving, so that we can solve the “black box problem” and also so that society can make more deliberate choices about where AI tools are beneficial and where they might be unnecessary or harmful. We stand on the threshold of intensive technological transformation, and we do not know what lies on the other side of our collective choices.
Even more ubiquitous than technology is the physicality of our planet itself: wherever we go, here we are. Across the globe, communities are experiencing the effects of changing climate systems. While scientists continue to discover the intricate connections of energy and matter across our land, seas, and sky, it is a struggle to bring business interests and government entities into alignment to make and uphold decisions that are based on scientific data and centered around the health and safety of humans and ecosystems. The uncertainty surrounding which parts of the world might be supported in prosperity and which might become uninhabitable can feel intensely destabilizing.
The worldwide movement of regenerative agriculture is one of the most effective ways that individuals and collectives are taking action to mitigate damage and build resilience. Regenerative agricultural practices seek to support: “resilient and abundant food and fiber production; agriculture that combines Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Western science; well-functioning water and carbon cycles; flourishing communities; and a just, thriving, and equitable food economy” (Regenerative Agriculture Foundation, n.d.). Many of these practices focus on improving soil health. Soil is a living system, and the prosperity of life in soil affects the quality of food grown in that soil, which affects the people and animals who eat the food. Healthy soil is also more resistant to erosion, better able to withstand drought, and more equipped to endure extreme precipitation events. Modern industrial agriculture is one of the most destructive systems ever put into place. Regenerative agriculture can heal much of the damage wrought by industrial agriculture – but it must be implemented consistently, widely, and immediately. In this pivotal moment, it is unclear whether enough people will make enough changes in enough time.
So how do people navigate uncertainty and lack of power in their interactions with technology, climate, and other gigantic, interconnected systems? Surfing can be used as a metaphor for finding agency amid circumstances that are broadly out of individual control. Surfers cannot govern the speed or size of the waves; nor whether the weather is sunny or windy or raining; nor whether there are other people, animals, or boats sharing the space. But surfers can learn what time the tide changes from high to low, and whether this beach has sandbars or other physical features that shape the movement of the waves, and which equipment works best for their bodies. Surfers can work with each other and community leaders to create guidelines for shared beach spaces and to organize events like trash cleanups, ocean safety education, and celebrations and competitions. Similarly, while a single person cannot fix the global climate crisis nor decide how AI will be used across the world, that person can learn about the liminality in these systems, make individual daily decisions about their interactions with these systems, and unite with like-minded people to help each other survive uncertainty and to advocate for policies and regulations which can guide and tweak the systems toward the benefit of all.
References
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation. (n.d.). Welcome. Retrieved June 15, 2026, from https://regenerativeagriculturefoundation.org/
