The idea of a "normal" climate is a recent construction. Paleoclimatology shows that Earth's climate has always been a dynamic system, oscillating between radically different states.
The myth of stability
Modern societies were built during a relatively stable interglacial period. This stability was taken as the norm. It is not. It is an exception.
Regime shifts
Climate does not change gradually. It shifts between regimes. When certain thresholds are crossed — ice coverage, ocean circulation, atmospheric composition — the system reconfigures rapidly.
The control illusion
The idea that we can "control" climate to keep it at 1.5°C or 2°C assumes a precision that complex systems do not allow. We can influence trajectories, not dictate precise outcomes.
Building for instability
Instead of trying to freeze a supposedly normal state, we should build societies capable of adapting to a range of climatic conditions. Flexibility rather than optimization for a single scenario.