Tentacular thinking is a concept [proposed](https://www.e-flux.com/journal/75/67125/tentacular-thinking-anthropocene-capitalocene-chthulucene/) by Donna Haraway as part of a larger argument against the term "Anthropocene," introducing the alternatives of the "Capitalocene" to describe the influence of greed on planetary processes in the 20th century, and "Chthulucene" to describe the response to the challenges presented by climate change in the 21st century. Whereas the Anthropocene arguably begins at the Industrial Revolution, the Capitolocene begins in the 16th century, at the emergence of early financialism, in which currency began to stand in for bartered goods or coin, combined with individualism emerging out of the Renaissance period. This represents a [[belief]] system in which the individual is enclosed, acting independently of his place in a larger system. [[The Chthulucene]] embraces life as interconnected systems. It undoes the individual, without removing her [[agency]]. It situates the human among all the other agents in a complex adaptive system. These are discussions of the geological age as a "tool for thinking," as opposed to layers of sediment. The Capitalocene provides a conceptual framework in which an *attitude* about Man’s place in the world evolved and how such a framework contributes to a whole-Earth system. The Chthulucene provides a new way to evolve. The prefix *chthulu-* derives from the species of spider *Pimoa cthulu* and the Greek *chthonos*, signifying darkness, subterranean, the recesses of the unconscious that must be probed to find the way out of the positive feedback loops created by the effects of [[Capitalism]]. This is "tentacular thinking." It is a means of "staying with the trouble," continuing to engage with the [[anxiety]] and discomfort that come with acknowledging the reality of how we are enmeshed in a system that ignores our [[Ecopsychology]]. Moreover, it is a way of feeling our way through our own darkness, relying less on "vision," and more on the emotional nuance of our experience, informed by our attempts to understand a future we cannot see. Tentacular thinking is the courage to descend into psychological darkness. But is also the recognition of oneself as a [[the network self|locus]] for many interlocking relationships, embedded within a complex adaptive system. [[Earth systems]] hold a chthonic influence over human life despite their opacity to the average mind. These systems, equated with Gaia, challenge the categories we use to predict and control our environments. Tentacular thinking encourages us to view such categorical thinking as models along a continuum of [[consciousness]], rather than bound and isolated objects.