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posted:
April 4, 2005
Gaia FAQs
What is Gaia?
“Gaia” is the
single most revolutionary concept of our time, for its implications
affect the way we think about everything—who we are, what we do,
and how we are going to survive. Broadly, it denotes our new, shared
21st Century understanding of our embeddedness within, and total dependence
upon, a unique and magnificent, but finite and imperiled living planet—a
self-sustaining island in space—as the only home we will ever
know. More specifically, Gaia is-
• A Myth:
The ancient Greek name
for the Earth, imagined as our primordial mother; an archetype with
analogues in virtually every other culture on Earth. It has recently
gained new currency as
• A Model:
The body of theory, developed
in 1980 by biochemist James Lovelock and microbiologist Lynn Margulis,
that models life on Earth as a self-organizing and self-regulating
complex adaptive system, in continual interaction with the atmosphere,
oceans, and mineral substrate. Through processes such as photosynthesis,
respiration, and nutrient cycling, life sustains the thermal, atmospheric,
and geophysical conditions of the Earth within a far-from-equilibrium
range suitable to its own self-propagation.
• A Metaphor:
Among leading scholars
and intellectuals worldwide, the Gaia model has evolved into a metaphor
for a new, holistic way of thinking about humanity’s place within
the natural scheme of things. We are accustomed to thinking of “man”
and “nature” (or “economy” and “ecology”)
as separate, unrelated domains, but Gaia theory teaches us that we
are a part of, not apart from, the biological world, and that whatever
we do to the planet, we do to ourselves as well.
• A Movement:
The Gaia movement, then,
includes, but transcends, the environmental movement. Whereas environmentalism
has been issue-based, entirely political, and based on an essentially
Romantic conception of protecting the pristine natural world from
human degradation, the Gaia movement is idea-based, culturally transformative,
and based on a holistic understanding of humanity-in-nature as a single
system. The Gaia movement has many different manifestations worldwide
—political (environmental activism and the anti-corporate-globalization
movement); economic (alternative “green” investment strategies
and ecologically-based critiques of conventional economic theory);
technological (industrial ecology, alternative energy, ecological
architecture and community design, etc.); and cultural (stewardship
theory, green spirituality, deep ecology, etc.).
What is the ultimate
goal of the Gaia movement?
Spontaneous remission of
the cancer of the Earth. A symbiotic world in which humanity’s
embeddedness in, and responsibility for the health of, the natural
world becomes the epistemic foundation of global civilization; in
which the manufacturing sector is reconfigured into industrial ecologies,
where recycling is maximized and toxic waste is minimized or eliminated;
a world which is energetically localized (as will be essential in
the inevitable conversion from fossil fuels to solar, wind, and biomass),
and informationally globalized. Exactly what form this will take,
in social and political institutions, cannot and should not be prespecified.
It will emerge from a worldwide process of advocacy, experimentation,
dialogue, mediation, and public education.
Is Gaia a new religion?
Not at all. It has nothing
whatsoever to say about basic religious questions—the nature
of divinity, the ultimate destiny of humanity, the purpose of our
lives, our duties toward God and neighbor, or what happens after we
die. The Gaia movement is based on cold, hard scientific facts: (1)
that the Earth is a finite sphere, with finite natural resources;
(2) that the biosphere is an interwoven complex adaptive system, in
which we participate every time we eat, breathe, eliminate, reproduce,
or transform resources into commodities and waste; (3) that it has
a finite carrying capacity, currently stretched to the limits by human
population, pollution, and resource consumption. Gaian consciousness
can thus be summed up in the following quote from Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly,
affects all indirectly.”
Can Christians also
be Gaians?
Of course. So can Jews,
Muslims, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Taoists, Marxists, or anyone
else. In fact, the only binding criteria for being a Gaian are that
you breathe oxygenated air, eat food grown on topsoil, and drink fresh
water; that you process energy, matter, and information. “Gaian”
is thus the only label I know that is completely inclusive; it thus
serves, at least potentially, as a vehicle for reconciling national,
ethnic, ideological, and religious disputes—because all of us,
as Gaians, have a common interest in a healthy, life-sustaining world
and a sustainable future.
How do I get involved
in the Gaia movement?
If you recycle, buy recycled
and renewable commodities, grow your own vegetables, compost, eat
low on the food chain, or conserve energy, you are already involved.
The next step is to join or create Gaia Circles--groups of others
who share your Gaian values in learning, teaching, healing, or creating
Gaia according to your own interests, whether by political advocacy,
education, or hands-on projects.
—Tom Ellis
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"Theology
asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly
to a worldview despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted
as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not
always bad but they are always blind."