Forget about a soulless piece of stone with water and noisy people. In fact, we all live on a gigantic organism! At least, supporters of the unusual Gaia hypothesis, with which we will get to know better, are convinced of this.
Who is Gaia?
In the divine pantheon of ancient Greece, Gaia was the deity of the Earth. She was considered the mother of all living things. Appeared after Chaos and was married to Uranus. The rest of the myth is filled with bloody stories of war, betrayal and the spawning of monsters. But the main thing for us to remember is that this is the embodiment of the goddess of our entire planet. It is also sometimes perceived as a second name after "Earth".
The birth of the Gaia hypothesis
In short, the essence of the hypothesis is that our entire planet is a living organism. For the first time, physicist and chemist James Hutton spoke about this in the 18th century. He shared his thoughts at one of the lectures in Edinburgh and invited the scientific community to treat the planet as a large-scale living being.
We usually think that we are living in a rocky sphere with water areas. And life is something separate that came here in the past and developed to the present state. But in 1785, Hutton believed that the Earth has its own metabolic system and even breathes.
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Modern development of the hypothesis
Usually all strange theories arise from a lack of knowledge. However, it is important to be able to look at everything from a different angle. The Gaia hypothesis became widespread in 1972 thanks to scientist James Lovelock and biologist Lynn Margulis. They pointed to the interconnectedness of earthly processes. That is, we cannot separate the evolution of life and rocks.
Lovelock had this idea back in 1965. He believes that terrestrial life forms received the necessary conditions for existence and entered into some kind of agreement with the planet, allowing both parties to benefit from cooperation.
Of course, NASA officials and other scientists have criticized the hypothesis that conflicts with Darwin's theory of evolution. But in the 1970s. active supporters and followers appeared. They even found the main link between the planet and life - microorganisms.
Discussion and meaning
March 8
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Is our Earth a living organism? Gaia's amazing hypothesis
Forget about a soulless piece of stone with water and noisy people. In fact, we all live on a gigantic organism! At least, supporters of the unusual Gaia hypothesis, with which we will get to know better, are convinced of this.
Who is Gaia?
In the divine pantheon of ancient Greece, Gaia was the deity of the Earth. She was considered the mother of all living things. Appeared after Chaos and was married to Uranus. The rest of the myth is filled with bloody stories of war, betrayal and the spawning of monsters. But the main thing for us to remember is that this is the embodiment of the goddess of our entire planet. It is also sometimes perceived as a second name after "Earth".
The birth of the Gaia hypothesis
In short, the essence of the hypothesis is that our entire planet is a living organism. For the first time, physicist and chemist James Hutton spoke about this in the 18th century. He shared his thoughts at one of the lectures in Edinburgh and invited the scientific community to treat the planet as a large-scale living being.
We usually think that we are living in a rocky sphere with water areas. And life is something separate that came here in the past and developed to the present state. But in 1785, Hutton believed that the Earth has its own metabolic system and even breathes.
Modern development of the hypothesis
Usually all strange theories arise from a lack of knowledge. However, it is important to be able to look at everything from a different angle. The Gaia hypothesis became widespread in 1972 thanks to scientist James Lovelock and biologist Lynn Margulis. They pointed to the interconnectedness of earthly processes. That is, we cannot separate the evolution of life and rocks.
Lovelock had this idea back in 1965. He believes that terrestrial life forms received the necessary conditions for existence and entered into some kind of agreement with the planet, allowing both parties to benefit from cooperation.
Of course, NASA officials and other scientists have criticized the hypothesis that conflicts with Darwin's theory of evolution. But in the 1970s. active supporters and followers appeared. They even found the main link between the planet and life - microorganisms.
Discussion and meaning
The complexity of the hypothesis is that it does not have clear formulations and postulates that can be confirmed or refuted by scientific methods. Therefore, many treat it more as a literary metaphor.
But the hypothesis also had a positive impact on the scientific world. Lovelock believed that humanity should not treat the Earth as a temporary refuge or just a home. This is a living organism, of which we are lucky to be a part. Note, only "in part", which means that we must respect the planet.
In addition, scientists themselves began to study the Earth as a whole, and not as a set of separate spheres. For example, everyone understood that when studying it was no longer possible to separate oceans and rocks, and students began to offer more comprehensive courses, revealing the chains of interconnection of earth systems.
P. S
Interestingly, the writer Isaac Asimov is considered a follower. The theme of "Gaia" is well illustrated in his cycle of novels "Foundation" (we recommend reading it), where the planet and its inhabitants live in harmony. Something similar can be seen in Avatar. What do you think?