Have you heard of Gaia, that the Earth is a living thing?

Question

Is spirit mind? And the Earth a mind? Like the Western
Hemisphere being logical, and the Eastern Hemisphere
being mystical? I need input!

Answer 1

Yes I have heard of this, and that's an interesting concept about the east and the west. Where does that leave the north and the south?

Answer 2

The scientific proposition that the planet earth is, in its entirety, a living organism made of parts which work together like the parts of smaller organisms do is a concept with mythological, animistic roots. The scientific concept was called the Gaia concept or Gaia Hypothesis for that reason. John Havelock authored a book entitled _Gaia_ proposing & arguing for the concept as a scientific theory. It appeals to some people & not to others who consider it too radical. Personally I think it is a useful, wonderful analogy that puts the activities of all the parts of the planet--living and dead- into a unified systems perspective. Human beings themselves are seen to be an element or factor in planetary scale developments such as is found in the growing belief in the idea that human activities are impacting the way the atmosphere changes especially its weather patterns & regional climate conditions.

As for your mystical speculations about the planet, well that goes back to the animistic roots I mentioned early in the beginning of my answer. I think that draws the organismic analogy out into fantasy land and leads too many unprovable, unexplainable, untestable assertions and Q's.
TWH 08142006

Answer 3

I have heard of it. I always figured that the gaian idea of reincarnation was the most practical explanation for an after life. It suggests that we return to a collective soul, helping it to grow with our personal growth. I think this isn't as abstact as most afterlifes because of it's connections to real science. It connects to chaos easily, with the thought of everything being connected and influencing one another (this applies to physics as well). Also a man named Lovelock I believe developed a gaia hypothesis that suggested that the earth is able to heal itself like a body, when things go out of balance this only causes things to move back into equilibrium (which we see in small scale biology). It is different from gaia theology of course, but both are very interesting.

Answer 4

Gaia (mythology), a Greek and Roman goddess, also known as the Earth Mother
Gaia hypothesis, a group of scientific theories about how life on Earth may regulate the planet's biosphere to make it more hospitable to life
Gaia philosophy, a set of philosophical views based on Gaia theory and the concept of a "living planet"

Answer 5

yeah, i've heard of the gaia hypothesis. its not as far out as it first seems to be. essentially it says that the earth is one interconnected system. its related to chaos theory and systems philosophy. some people might take it to the point of claiming that the earth has a mind and consciousness, but i think it is more accurate to say that it is an unconscious system which regulates itself. does that mean the earth is a living organism? I guess it really depends on how you define life.

Answer 6

James Lovelock is the guy behind the idea. It originated from the idea of pantheism which later evolved into Hegel's Absolute in philosophy and was translated to psychology as The Collective Unconscious in Jung. My most intersting crossing of it came in science fiction with "The Land" and its Earthpower in the book The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and Collective Consciousness in Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Man.
All these in a search engine will yield you books and books of reading which will take years.

Answer 7

I heard of it, but that was in final fantasy a movie. Depressing movie, but they saved the Gaia.

Answer 8

Would that make us parasites feeding on a brain?

Answer 9

Yeah, and I heard a fairy tale about god and jesus, too.

Answer 10

and we will devoure it like bugs on a apple,untill we all die