“Technological revolution, information revolution, the robot revolution, and the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution are important, but perhaps an ecological transition is even more important.”

Choi Jae-cheon, an emeritus professor at Ewha Womans University, delivered a special lecture titled ‘From Homo Sapiens to Homo Symbious’ at the <2026 Kyunghyang Forum>, held on the 17th at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, under the theme ‘The Age of Power - Seeking a Path to Coexistence Beyond the Order of Power’. He emphasized, “Even if we live in abundance through technological transitions, if millions lose their lives to attacks by viruses, one has to wonder what that abundance means,” and “We must, before it is too late, reestablish the relationship between nature and humans through an ecological transition.”

Professor Choi argued that to overcome the era of the climate crisis and infectious diseases, we must move away from human-centered thinking and restore biodiversity. He said, “Climate issues that were once discovered locally have now spread into the global problem of global warming,” and “The COVID-19 pandemic is an appropriate warning sent to us by nature.”

SARS, MERS, and COVID-19, the epidemics that have recently inflicted major damage on humanity, were all found by epidemiological investigations to have originated with viruses in bats. Professor Choi interpreted COVID-19 as a representative case of a zoonotic disease produced by climate change and the loss of biodiversity.

According to a study published in 2021, over the past 100 years some bat species that inhabited tropical regions have moved into temperate regions due to the effects of climate change. Bats that primarily lived in the tropics have drawn closer to human living areas. The most pronounced shift has been in southern China, where roughly 40 or so tropical bat species have settled. It is known that each bat species carries about 2~3 coronaviruses.

Professor Choi warned, “If we do not stop climate change, situations like this can occur more often and incessantly in temperate regions,” and “Unless we correct the extreme narrowing of biodiversity caused by human agriculture, the likelihood of the dreadful pandemic returning is high.”

Professor Choi pointed to ‘diversity’ as the core value for maintaining ecosystem health. He said, “Nature abhors purity and loves diversity. One can see that just by the many variants of COVID-19, such as Alpha, Delta, and Omicron. But humans, Homo sapiens, seem to detest diversity, which is a serious concern,” and “Not only ecosystems but also human societies can remain healthy when different beings coexist.”

Professor Choi emphasized that although humanity has long called itself Homo sapiens, meaning ‘wise human,’ it must now move toward ‘Homo Symbious,’ meaning a coexisting human. He said, “Life has survived on Earth by coexisting,” and “The moment we refuse coexistence, humanity too will find it hard to survive for long.”