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The Gaia Hypothesis
Something that has taken on greater and greater significance for me over the years is the sense that every single human being is a part of every other human being. This is the sense of collective humanity, humanity as a single organism, the sense that we cannot exist alone and the sense that whatever we do has impact upon every other human being. The following article is just one that helps to reinforce this sense. Taking the, “we are part of one another” theme further, Professor James Lovelock proposed that every living thing on Earth forms, along with the air, the oceans and the surfaces of the land, a single yet incredibly complex self-regulating organism whose physical and chemical environments evolved together.
Lovelock called this organism ‘Gaia', after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth. An important part of the hypothesis is that earlier, primitive forms of life created the conditions under which all current life on the planet could not only thrive, but develop and evolve into ever more complex forms. The sun, Lovelock states, produces thirty per cent more heat today than it did before life began on our planet, but somehow the surface temperature of the Earth has remained at a level suitable for life to develop and evolve. It seems that no other planet in the solar system has ever been suitable for any kind of complex life, yet the Earth is blessed with an enormous variety of flora and fauna.
A self regulating planet What is it, Lovelock asked himself that makes our home planet so different from its close neighbours? His answer is at once both remarkably simple and truly remarkable. He claims that life itself, in all of its many forms, regulates the atmosphere and maintains the conditions suitable for its own sustenance; life on Earth acts, in effect, as the governor of the planet's atmosphere. As the heat reaching us from the sun increased, Lovelock argues, the organisms that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - and so allow more of the sun's heat to escape back into space - became more and more abundant and increasingly efficient. As a result, atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are now up to one thousand times lower than when life first appeared on our planet. Our lifeless sister planet, Venus, shows what might have happened to the Earth had Gaia not existed. Similar in size to the Earth and, in astronomical terms, a mere stone's throw away, Venus is one of the most inhospitable places in the solar system. This is because, says Lovelock, it lacks the self-regulating organism that is Gaia.
The fate of Venus The atmosphere close to the surface of Venus is incredibly dense and more than 96 per cent carbon dioxide. This sits below a layer of thick, choking cloud, mostly made up of droplets of sulphuric acid. The two layers act like a giant greenhouse, absorbing the sun's energy and trapping it so efficiently at the surface that Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. Lovelock argues that it is the absence of life on Venus that makes the planet so inhospitable. Here on Earth, the ability of life to manipulate the atmosphere, and where necessary evolve into new forms, provides the best evidence in support of the Gaia hypothesis. During the first milliard or so years of life on Earth, the primitive life forms that populated the planet changed the composition of the atmosphere, saving the Earth from a fate similar to that of Venus.
Exchange of gases Early life forms were anaerobic; that is, they did not metabolise oxygen, but absorbed the energy they needed for life directly from the sun by means of photosynthesis. Their environment was necessarily rich in hydrogen, but unfortunately for them the process of anaerobic photosynthesis - the very process that kept them alive - gradually built up the level of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. Difficult as it might be for us to imagine, this was an environmental disaster for these early life forms. As James Lovelock points out, “This was probably the most critical period of all in the history of life on Earth. Oxygen gas in the air of an anaerobic world must have been the worst atmospheric pollution incident that this planet has ever known.’ According to Lovelock, Gaia responded to the challenge slowly but surely. Over many millions of years, she adapted, turning this life-threatening gas to her advantage. The anaerobic life forms slowly died out, to be replaced with newer, aerobic (oxygen dependent) life forms, including, eventually, ourselves. Unfortunately for Lovelock, this hypothesis is very much at odds with scientific doctrine. His holistic view of life on our planet was, for example, vehemently dismissed by Nobel prize-winner Jacques Monod. The conventional view is that the Earth's climate controls its environments, and that the environments in turn determine the conditions for life on our planet. Some scientists believe that accepting the Gaia hypothesis reduces the importance of the human race from the crown of creation to a part of a self-regulating machine. 'What happens to free will?' they ask. Others, by contrast, have taken the idea further. The biologist Richard Dawkins, for example, has drawn attention to the way that ideas, and fashions spread across the world (mnemonics) in much the same way as a virus spreads through an organism.
Scientific objections When all else fails, however, the established scientific community can be relied upon to invoke scientific method in order to win its argument. If a hypothesis cannot be tested, then it will never be more than an idea. For the Gaia hypothesis, this is a very difficult objection to overcome, but the armour of scientific method does have a weak link: Charles Darwin. Everything that can be said about the unscientific nature of Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis could equally well be said of Darwin's theory of evolution. Both work themselves out over such long periods of time that it is impossible to set up any laboratory experiments. While evidence can be presented to support the ideas of both Lovelock and Darwin, there is no conclusive proof for either. However, if we buy in to the game of reflecting upon the ‘truth and reality’ or not, of Lovelock’s hypothesis we are actually missing the point altogether. In Shinseido thought Gaia, like so many related theories or hypothesis represents a symbolic principle - the symbol of connectedness and unity. If perchance it ultimately lacks ‘truth’ or ‘reality’, it does not invalidate the concept and the effect that holding such a concept has upon the mind-set.
Causes for Concern Instead of spending time discussing the merits of Darwin's theory and the failings of Lovelock's, scientists might be better employed looking at the implications of Lovelock's theory for life, especially human life, on this planet. If, when oxygen was introduced into the Earth's atmosphere, Gaia was prepared to sacrifice anaerobic life in order to survive, what might happen if Gaia's aerobic life forms were similarly threatened? Lovelock imagines what would happen if, for example, a marine alga were to take over the sea and use sunlight to generate chlorine from the chloride ion in seawater. The chlorine gas that would be produced is toxic - it was used in World War I to kill huge numbers of troops - and could make the survival of humankind extremely perilous. Yet, we need not posit a mutant algae to predict a disaster. We need only look at the way in which we seem determined to make this planet uninhabitable for creatures like ourselves to realise that something of far deeper significance may be going on. Despite the obvious effects of our actions in raising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - melting ice caps, rising sea levels and freak weather - we seem intent on creating an irreversible change in our atmosphere. Could our apparent drive to destroy ourselves indicate that we might be the next life form to be sacrificed at the altar of Gaia? Message: We are all part of one another.
Gaiagape Terry McCombs writes that Gaiagape is a combination of the name Gaia (Earth Mother) and the word Agape (universal all-encompassing love). Gaiagape is an attempt to find a word that embodies a concept that is growing in the world today. The concept is that Gaia, the Earth Mother, the planet we all live on and are a part of is a living conscious being, not in just an abstract sense such as "all living things depend upon the earth for survival, therefore the earth is a living being." But conscious in a much more profound sense, beyond even Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis. Gaiagape is a search for contact and harmonisation with the thoughts of the Mother Earth, which many believe is growing more self-aware and actualised each day. Gaiagape is a way of saying, "Earth Mother, we feel the awaking of your power in these important times and wish to join with our brothers and sisters of the plant, animal, stone, spirit, avataric, and all peoples of the Earth to bring about Your healing." Some people will say "She is quite capable of that on her own without any interference from us."
True,
but it is also true that while Gaia has love for all Her peoples, She will do whatever is needed to assure that life is preserved, but the healing of the Earth need not be harsh! We too, are a part of Her. We are part of the brain matrix of this great being and we can use our imaginations, intelligence, physical actions, and our magical abilities to bring about the healing of Earth and Her peoples in the most positive loving way possible. Message: We are all part of one another.
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