How one thing relates to other things. Relational thinking is increasingly important as we consider the impact of human actions on the earth. Relational thinking is ecological thinking (thinking about systems and how nothing is ever independent). Relational thinking is a different way of understanding causality (what makes something happen). There is no linear causality in relational thinking, no clear singular causation. Things become. Many factors contribute to an event. There are origins (Walter Benjamin: “Origin is an eddy in the steam of becoming”), but never an absolute genesis. Identity is seen differently in the light of relational thinking as well. See also Sympoiesis.
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