Last
time I discussed world population and the fact that there are now 6 billion
of us. I said we may be arrogant and naive to assume that we are
the most important thing happening on the planet, and noted that the earth
could do just fine without us but we wouldn't last five minutes without
her green plants. I said we must reduce our impact soon, or else
we can anticipate that Mother Earth may develop a "fever" during which
a lot of us figure to get burned.
These
ideas deserve more exploration. I referred to the earth as if it
were a living being. Well, it may be! The "Gaia Hypothesis"
is a fascinating idea: it states that the earth is the body of a
larger, conscious being named "Gaia" (Greek for "earth"). Rivers,
ocean currents, wind, and the cycle of water through evaporation and rain
are all analogous to blood circulating in the veins. Great forests
are Gaia's "lungs." We, perhaps, are part of her brain. Apart
from expanding our own awareness until we can hear the voice of Gaia, there
may be no way to test whether she is alive and aware. How could one
of our own body cells (each of which has a kind of simple awareness) know
the larger being of which it is part?
The
Gaia Hypothesis was popularized by British author James Lovelock,
who coined the idea of "geophysiology" as the study of her living systems.
Still, the idea is not new. It has probably appeared throughout history
in different cultures, philosophies, and religions, and was elaborated
in the 1930s in the dense and profound spiritual masterpiece Star Maker
by Olaf Stapledon, which remains in print and is classified under "science
fiction." This transcendent and mind-bending book goes beyond Gaia
to contemplate vastly different intelligent life forms, the minds of stars,
and even the minds of galaxies and the universe as a whole.
If Gaia
is indeed alive, she may be a heck of a lot more important in the
grand scheme of things than we are. We think we're so important because
we're "intelligent," but we confuse our own peculiar type of intelligence
with intelligence as a whole. Ours expresses itself through manual
dexterity enabled by opposable thumbs, but we're silly to assume that whales
aren't as smart as us just because they don't build cities. And how
about a flock of birds or colony of bees? Perhaps they possess intelligent
"group minds," though individuals among them may not be especially bright.
I've often marvelled at the sight of hundreds or thousands of birds moving
brilliantly in unison, but have never observed a "leader" at the front,
barking out orders to the rest...
Dolphin
researcher, medical doctor, and "inner space" explorer John Lilly
asks how we could ever hope to recognize extra-terrestrial intelligence
(which presumably would be vastly different from ours) if we can't even
recognize other intelligence that's right here with us. He feels
that communicating with whales and dolphins is a good place to start.
(By the way, Lilly says that "Star Maker is the most influential
book I have ever read. It shows me a God large enough to encompass
everything I've thought and experienced." If you read his book The
Center of the Cyclone, you know that's a pretty big God.)
Our
lives emerge from the soil of Mother Earth and the energy of Father Sun.
Whether or not Gaia actually is a living being, it's valuable to ponder
the idea because it provides a vastly larger perspective and some desperately
needed humility. With our manual skill, tool-making technology, and
ever increasing numbers, we are drastically changing Gaia's face--and this
may not meet her needs. If she's alive, her time frame is surely
much different from ours. The entire history of human domination
of her biosphere may be only a day or brief moment in her long life, and
a fever or even a simple sneeze from her may dramatically remind us how
small we really are. It's time now to listen-- really listen--to
see if we can hear and understand her voice, and allow her to guide us
into the future.
Here is my
article on world population: The Day of 6
Billion.