Maybe our sense of global belonging is merely a matter of perspective. If an observer were to zoom out far enough, they might see something as complex and synchronized as a sprawling ant colony: humans building infrastructure, laboring collectively, and laying foundations for homes where they hope to live safely on the singular haven we call Earth. This fragile sphere spins on its axis in a cold, heedless universe, suggesting that its inhabitants must surely be united in the protection of one another on the planet they share.
Yet, zoom back in, and that same observer might be shocked to see violence directed at people precisely because of where they live, alongside the systematic destruction of homes, schools, and communities—humans killing other humans.
It is all a matter of perspective.
For much of human history, people lived in small, localized groups as families, clans, and tribes. The pressing need for a broader sense of global belonging may have been less apparent to populations who lived their entire lives close to their birthplaces. Pre-industrial humans exerted a limited impact on their planetary home and its inhabitants. Even so, a sense of belonging to the immediate environment was likely high for people who were exposed daily to both the providence and the cruel indifference of their earthly surroundings. Earth was simultaneously a protector and a threat, and living disconnected from it simply was not an option.
Looking back across the historical record, however, we see long, recurring chapters of belonging disruption, displacement, and dispossession. Modern society’s ongoing struggles with belonging are by no means new. In fact, belonging strongly to one group can frequently mean believing that one must destroy another. In her chapter, "Global Belonging: From Conflict and Exclusion to Untapped Potential," researcher K.-A. Allen describes this profound tension, noting that conflicts and violence of this nature often arise from individuals who feel an intensely strong sense of belonging rather than those who lack it, as one might casually assume.
Feeling Ourselves as Part of the Earth
Those who study the sociology and psychology of human belonging cannot always safely assume that strengthening the sense of belonging within a specific group will automatically make people’s lives better, safer, or happier. Researchers traditionally tend to study belonging in dyads and triads, or within localized groups and formal organizations. But what happens if we expand our scope to consider our collective home, the Earth itself? Does the mere fact of sharing a planet mean that we inherently feel we all belong to it?
Global belonging ultimately means experiencing ourselves as an integral, living part of the Earth. It is the deep-seated feeling that the Earth is somewhere we all fundamentally belong. A genuine sense of belonging to the Earth should naturally encourage care for the planet and for our fellow humans. It should help engender a persistent concern for the safety and belonging of others, even during times when our own personal security remains unthreatened and secure.
Feeling a part of the Earth does not need to displace our foundational attachments to a nation, culture, or local community. These attachments remain deeply important to human identity. However, the global atmosphere does not care where a specific molecule of carbon dioxide came from. At a fundamental, existential level, humanity must strengthen its overarching sense of global belonging, regardless of what those preaching social fracture and disruption would have people believe. Our very survival as a species depends upon it.
The Overview Effect
To understand this concept more fully, we can zoom out again—this time far enough to see the entire planet suspended in the blackness of space. Astronauts frequently report experiencing a profound shift in consciousness, describing feeling far more deeply connected to the Earth and its inhabitants after viewing the planet from the unique vantage point of orbit. These visceral connections offer a powerful way to imagine the planet as a singular place where we all belong.
Allen’s research describes this transformative cognitive shift, which was originally termed the "Overview Effect" by writer Frank White in 1987 based on his extensive interviews with spacefarers. The term describes the sudden awareness that emerges from viewing Earth as a shared, finite home. This extraordinary experience is frequently linked to lasting changes in personal values, heightened environmental concerns and pro-environmental behaviors, and a stronger, more inclusive identification with humanity as a whole and with the planet itself.
At present, researchers do not yet fully know whether this specific type of planetary belonging can be deliberately encouraged in everyday life on the ground, or whether brief exposures create an enduring, lifelong sense of global belonging. Moving forward, researchers will need to examine whether fostering global belonging can genuinely influence the choices ordinary people make, particularly during times of war, acute conflict, and widespread human suffering.
Our intimate belonging to family, culture, and country can comfortably coexist with the broader understanding that those outside these familiar constructs also belong to our shared humanity. Exclusionary nationalism, for instance, far too often comes at the heavy cost of ignoring how others can and should belong in the same physical and social spaces. We do not need everyone in the world to agree completely or share the exact same political beliefs.
From high above, humanity might still look like a collective, cohesive ant colony, yet zooming in reveals individuals whose global belonging is not only threatened but actively annihilated. What could the world truly look like if we cared enough for humanity not to destroy our world or the people living in it? And would that not ultimately be the type of world that most of us would want to live in?