# Humans Are a Planetary Force by Jennifer Jacquet > “Whether the geologic experts anoint it as an official epoch, enough of society has already decided the Anthropocene is here. Humans are a planetary force.” > **— Jennifer Jacquet**, *2017 Edge Annual Question, response passage* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and locator:** [The Anthropocene — Jennifer Jacquet](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/27096) — 2017 Annual Question response, contiguous sentence(s) within the representative extract. - **Exact original excerpt:** “Whether the geologic experts anoint it as an official epoch, enough of society has already decided the Anthropocene is here. Humans are a planetary force. Not since cyanobacteria has a single taxonomic group been so in charge. Humans have proven we are capable of seismic influence, of depleting the ozone layer, of changing the biology of every continent, but not, at least so far, that we are capable of living on any other planet. The more interesting questions may not be about whether the Anthropocene exists or when it began, but about whether we are prepared for this kind of control.” - **Context and editing:** Jacquet explicitly leaves formal geological designation open while reporting that society has adopted the Anthropocene idea. The poster keeps that uncertainty before her claim about human planetary influence. No editorial words were inserted. - **Local Edge archive:** [[research/Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation]], response EDGE2017-132. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Greatest Transformation in Human History|The Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Ecology|Ecology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Ecology|Ecology]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Whether the geologic experts anoint it as an official epoch, enough of society has already decided the Anthropocene is here. Humans are a planetary force.” — Jennifer Jacquet, 2017 Edge Annual Question, response passage https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-jennifer-jacquet-humans-planetary-force ```