The debate got a bit nasty, as these are positions driven as much by emotion as by science. According to one perspective (call it the "Gardeners"), we face a choice between moderating/steering the Anthropocene versus unsuccessfully fighting against it; according to the other perspective (call it the "Re-Wilders"), it's a choice between reversing the Anthropocene versus surrendering to it (and "surrendering" is definitely the concept -- at one point,
E. O. Wilson rather pointedly asked another panelist,
Emma Marris, where she had planted her white flag). These appear to be hard-to-reconcile positions. It's easy to see the Gardeners' argument that "you can't step in the same stream twice," that reversing the Anthropocene is simply impossible; at the same time, it's difficult to refute the Re-Wilders' assertion that this would essentially abandon the natural world, as it gives an excuse for limiting efforts to push back against the Anthropocene.
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