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A reinterpretation of James Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis through the lens of Darwinian natural selection and multispecies community evolution.First conceived in the 1970s, James Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis proposed that living organisms developed in tandem with their inorganic surroundings, forming a complex, self-regulating system. Today, most evolutionary biologists consider the theory problematic. In Darwinizing Gaia, W. Ford Doolittle, one of evolutionary and molecular biology's most prestigious thinkers, reformulates what evolution by natural selection is while legitimizing the controversial Gaia Hypothesis. As the first book attempting to reconcile Gaia with Darwinian thinking, and the first on persistence-based evolution, Doolittle's clear, innovative position broadens evolutionary theory by offering potential remedies for Gaia's theoretical challenges.Unquestionably, the current “polycrisis” is the most complex that Homo sapiens has ever faced, and this book can help overcome the widespread belief that evolutionary biologists don't believe Lovelock. Written in the tradition of Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene, Darwinizing Gaia will appeal to students, evolutionary scientists, philosophers, and microbiologists, as well as environmentalists seeking to understand the Earth as a system, at a time when climate change has drawn our planet's structure and function into sharp relief.

• Describes how energy therapies are now gaining acceptance due to irrefutable proof of their effectiveness for clinical conditions from PTSD to phantom limb pain• Examines the power of group energetics and team chemistry in sports and in society• Explains how megalithic sacred sites are aligned with Earth's subtle energies and explores the energetics of crop circles and global consciousnessExamining the wealth of evidence supporting the reality of the human biofield, Eric Leskowitz, M.D., explores the role of life energy in healing therapies and outlines its many manifestations at the individual, group, and global levels. He shows how energy therapies have been taboo in the West and reveals irrefutable evidence for their clinical benefits. He also describes the obstacles he faced in his own attempts to bring these holistic approaches into the world of academic medicine.The author's detailed exploration of phantom limb pain shows that this phenomenon is not a psychosomatic creation of the brain but is a tangible energetic structure: the human biofield in action. He explores group energetics and team chemistry, revealing how group situations—a concert, a meditation retreat, a sporting event—create their own energetic power. He shows how Stonehenge and other megaliths were built in alignment with Earth's own energy meridians, and he proposes that the mysterious phenomenon of crop circles may be emerging in harmony with Earth's subtle energies.Blending hard science with ancient healing wisdom, the author reveals how we can all thrive together by remembering our shared energetic roots and our undeniable interconnectedness through the global web of life energy and consciousness itself.

A brilliant portrayal of how karma works over the centuries, Atlantis and Gaia: Magic, Reincarnation, Covid and Earth Healing Today explains in easygoing style reincarnation and soul healing through natural medicines such as homeopathy and herbs. Diana Mary Rose brings famous modern-day celebrities into her writing. We see George Harrison, for instance, as a monk, and John Lennon as a famous peace man - eons before their fame today - and William Shakespeare appears in a new light, too, as this psychic author delves into his past and future lives. From Julius Caesar and Fred Astaire to Angelina and Brad, there is no end to interesting tales here. Everyone alive has reincarnated multiple times over. Karma is a merry-go-round. And underpinning the entire book is Atlantis, that mystical civilisation, for the Atlantean light shines brightly over every aspect of society today. An entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable read, Atlantis and Gaia will introduce you to new concepts and blow your mind.

God and Gaia explores the overlap between traditional religious cosmologies and the scientific Gaia theory of James Lovelock. It argues that a Gaian approach to the ecological crisis involves rebalancing human and more-than-human influences on Earth by reviving the ecological agency of local and indigenous human communities, and of nonhuman beings.Present-day human ecological influences on Earth have been growing at pace since the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, when modern humans adopted a machine cosmology in which humans are the sole intelligent agency. The resultant imbalance between human and Earthly agencies is degrading the species diversity of ecosystems, causing local climate changes, and threatens to destabilise the Earth as a System. Across eight chapters this ambitious text engages with traditional cosmologies from the Indian Vedas and classical Greece to Medieval Christianity, with case material from Southeast Asia, Southern Africa and Great Britain. It discusses concepts such as deep time and ancestral time, the ethics of genetic engineering of foods and viruses, and holistic ecological management.Northcott argues that an ontological turn that honours the differential agency of indigenous humans and other kind, and that draws on sacred traditions, will make it is possible to repair the destabilising impacts of contemporary human activities on the Earth System and its constituent ecosystems. This book will be of considerable interest to students and scholars of the environmental humanities, history, and cultural and religious studies.

Explores how the Universe, our planet, ourselves, and everything in existence has inherent meaning and evolutionary purpose• 2023 Nautilus Gold Award• Examines our emergence as self-aware members of a Universe that is itself a unified and innately sentient entity that exists TO evolve• Shares leading-edge scientific breakthroughs and shows how they support traditional visions of Earth as a living being--Gaia• Rewrites evolution as not driven by random occurrences and mutations but by intelligently informed and meaningful information flows and processesExploring our emergence as self-aware members of a planetary home and entire Universe that is a unified and innately sentient entity, Jude Currivan, Ph.D., shows that mind and consciousness are not what we possess but what we and the whole world fundamentally are. She reveals our Universe as “a great thought of cosmic mind,” manifesting as a cosmic hologram of meaningful in-formation that, vitally, exists to evolve. Sharing scientific breakthroughs, the author details the 13.8 billion-year story of our Universe and Gaia, where everything in existence has inherent meaning and evolutionary purpose. Showing how the Universe was born, not in an implicitly chaotic big bang, but as the first moment of a fine-tuned and ongoing “big breath,” she shares the latest evidence for the innate sentience that has guided our universal journey from simplicity to ever-greater complexity, diversity, and self-awareness--from protons to planets, plants, and people. She explains how evolution is not driven by random occurrences and mutations but by profoundly resonant and harmonic interplays of forces and influences, each intelligently informed and guided.In Gaia, the Universe's evolutionary impulse is embodied in collaborative relationships and dynamic co-evolutionary partnerships on a planetary scale and as a wholistic gaiasphere. She reveals how the conscious evolution of humanity is an integral part of Gaia's own evolutionary progress and purpose. By perceiving and experiencing our planet as a sentient being and ourselves as Gaians, we open ourselves to a deeply ecological, evolutionary, and, above all, hopeful worldview.

Als James Lovelock 1979 seine Gaia-Hypothese veröffentlichte, war die Reaktion kontrovers: Von Teilen der Öffentlichkeit bewundert, wurde »Gaia« von vielen Wissenschaftlern ins Reich der Esoterik verwiesen. Mittlerweile ist die zentrale Aussage dieses Meilensteins der Ökologiebewegung auch in der Wissenschaft angekommen: Die Erde kann wie ein Lebewesen betrachtet werden, als komplexes System, das durch dynamische Vorgänge innerhalb der Biosphäre stabilisiert wird. Wer wissen will, wie das »Lebewesen Erde« funktioniert, kommt an Lovelocks Buch nicht vorbei. Die Reihe »Bibliothek der Nachhaltigkeit« präsentiert Autorinnen und Autoren, die als Pioniere und Vordenkerinnen ihrer Zeit voraus waren und ungewöhnliche Wege des Denkens eröffnet haben. Ihre Texte liefern auch heute noch wichtige Impulse für die Diskussion und Praxis der Nachhaltigkeit, Transformation und Zukunftsfähigkeit unserer Gesellschaft.

Buddhist and Taoist Systems Thinking explores a radical new conception of business and management. It is grounded on the reconnection of humans with nature as the new competitive advantage for living organizations and entrepreneurs that aspire to regenerate the economy and drive a positive impact on the planet, in the context of the Anthropocene. Organizations today struggle in finding a balance between maximizing profits and generating value for their stakeholders, the environment and the society at large. This happens in a paradigm shift characterized by unprecedented levels of exponential change and the emergence of disruptive technologies. Adaptability, thus, is becoming the new business imperative. How can, then, entrepreneurs and organizations constantly adapt and, at the same time, design the sustainable futures they'd like?This book uniquely explores the benefits of applying Buddhist and Taoist Systems Thinking to sustainable management. Grounded in Taoist and Zen Buddhist philosophies, it offers a modern scientific perspective fundamentally based on the concepts of bio-logical adaptability and lifefulness amidst complexity and constant change. The book introduces the new concept of the Gaia organization as a living organism that consciously helps perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet. It is subject to the natural laws of transformation and the principles of oneness, emptiness, impermanence, balance, self-regulation and harmonization. Readers will find applied Eastern systems theories such as the Yin-Yang and the Five Elements operationalized through practical methodologies and tools such as T-Qualia and the Zen Business model. They are aimed at guiding Gaia organizations and entrepreneurs in leading sustainable transformations and qualifying economic growth.The book offers a vital toolkit for purpose-driven practitioners, management researchers, students, social entrepreneurs, evaluators and change-makers to reinvent, create and mindfully manage sustainable and agile organizations that drive systemic transformation.

A groundbreaking look at Gaia theory's intersections with neocybernetic systems theory Often seen as an outlier in science, Gaia has run a long and varied course since its formulation in the 1970s by atmospheric chemist James Lovelock and microbiologist Lynn Margulis. Gaian Systems is a pioneering exploration of the dynamic and complex evolution of Gaia's many variants, with special attention to Margulis's foundational role in these developments.Bruce Clarke assesses the different dialects of systems theory brought to bear on Gaia discourse. Focusing in particular on Margulis's work—including multiple pieces of her unpublished Gaia correspondence—he shows how her research and that of Lovelock was concurrent and conceptually parallel with the new discourse of self-referential systems that emerged within neocybernetic systems theory. The recent Gaia writings of Donna Haraway, Isabelle Stengers, and Bruno Latour contest its cybernetic status. Clarke engages Latour on the issue of Gaia's systems description and extends his own systems-theoretical synthesis under what he terms “metabiotic Gaia.” This study illuminates current issues in neighboring theoretical conversations—from biopolitics and the immunitary paradigm to NASA astrobiology and the Anthropocene. Along the way, he points to science fiction as a vehicle of Gaian thought. Delving into many issues not previously treated in accounts of Gaia, Gaian Systems describes the history of a theory that has the potential to help us survive an environmental crisis of our own making.

A fascinating new study from the originator of the Gaia Theory, “who conceived the first wholly new way of looking at life on earth since Charles Darwin” (Independent)One of the world's leading scientific thinkers offers a vision of a future epoch in which humans and artificial intelligence unite to save the Earth. James Lovelock, creator of the Gaia hypothesis and the greatest environmental thinker of our time, has produced an astounding new theory about future of life on Earth. He argues that the Anthropocene—the age in which humans acquired planetary-scale technologies—is, after 300 years, coming to an end. A new age—the Novacene—has already begun.In the Novacene, new beings will emerge from existing artificial intelligence systems. They will think 10,000 times faster than we do and they will regard us as we now regard plants. But this will not be the cruel, violent machine takeover of the planet imagined by science fiction. These hyperintelligent beings will be as dependent on the health of the planet as we are. They will need the planetary cooling system of Gaia to defend them from the increasing heat of the sun as much as we do. And Gaia depends on organic life. We will be partners in this project.It is crucial, Lovelock argues, that the intelligence of Earth survives and prospers. He does not think there are intelligent aliens, so we are the only beings capable of understanding the cosmos. Perhaps, he speculates, the Novacene could even be the beginning of a process that will finally lead to intelligence suffusing the entire cosmos. At the age of 100, James Lovelock has produced the most important and compelling work of his life.

Winner of the Scientific & Medical Network Book Prize 2019!In Gaia, Psyche and Deep Ecology: Navigating Climate Change in the Anthropocene, Andrew Fellows uniquely connects Earth systems, Jungian and philosophical approaches to the existential threats that we face today. He elucidates the psychological basis of our dysfunctional relationship with nature, thereby offering a coherent framework for transforming this in our personal and professional lives. Demonstrating the imperative for new ideas that transcend the status quo, Fellows tackles unprecedented 21st century challenges such as climate change through his interdisciplinary approach.Fellows proposes a worldview, informed by depth psychology, which radically contradicts the prevailing shibboleths of unlimited economic growth, dominion over outer nature and negation of our inner nature. To accommodate a broad readership, he first introduces the Anthropocene and sufficient basics of systems dynamics, Gaia theory and analytical psychology before exploring the mind-matter conundrum. He then correlates the structure, dynamics, contents and pathology of Gaia and of psyche, critiques the Western Zeitgeist as midlife crisis and establishes parallels between deep ecology and psychological individuation. This ground-breaking synthesis of Gaia theory, analytical psychology and deep ecology reveals synergies which show how we can, and why we must, relinquish anthropocentrism in order to survive sustainably as equals in and with the natural world.Combining Jungian theory with other cutting-edge disciplines to inform, inspire and heal, this book is essential reading not only for Jungian analysts, students and scholars, but for all—including professionals in Earth systems science, environmental philosophy and ecopsychology—who realise that ‘business as usual'is no longer an option.

El cambio climático es parte de la discusión pública, y la conciencia ecológica se expande como consenso social. Sin embargo, todavía estamos presos de una visión de la naturaleza que no sirve para pensar nuestro vínculo con ella: ni las miradas catastrofistas que anuncian el apocalipsis ni la idealización que simplifica el mundo natural al concebirlo casi como una divinidad new age (o como un gigante autónomo) pueden captar la novedad de un régimen que ya es imprevisible. El aire, los océanos, los glaciares, el clima, el suelo: todo lo que era la antigua naturaleza ha dejado de ser una escenografía estática –tranquilizadora o atemorizante– para convertirse en un actor más en el escenario y sostener una agitada relación con los humanos. En este libro ambicioso y pionero, Bruno Latour da una vuelta más a su proyecto de trazar una antropología de los modernos. ¿Cómo comprender esta Tierra que interactúa con nuestras acciones e incluso decide sobre ellas? Sólo es posible hacerlo repensando nociones clásicas de la sociología, la epistemología, la antropología y la ciencia política (mundo social/mundo natural, ciencias naturales/humanidades, ciencia/religión). Pero sobre todo, quitando grandilocuencia al tema del cambio climático, para acercarlo a una escala humana, cotidiana. En ese marco, analiza el desempeño de los diferentes actores (empresarios, científicos, ciudadanos, gobernantes), cartografía los territorios y las poblaciones en crisis, reflexiona sobre el sentido del Estado y las políticas públicas. Entre la fluidez de la palabra oral y la exploración ensayística, este libro –consumación de un programa que ya lleva cuatro décadas– construye un puente entre ciencia y política como única vía para entender las potencias desencadenadas por el nuevo régimen climático y rearmar nuestro propio margen de acción como criaturas terrestres.

Die Diskussionen um einen anthropogenen Klimawandel und seine Herausforderungen entfalten sich längst in der Mitte der Weltgesellschaft: Mal im Gewand empirischer Wissenschaft, mal im Gewand mythischer Narrative.Die Untersuchung widmet sich in einer tiefergehenden Auseinandersetzung den vielfältigen mythischen Formen im ökologischen Diskurs. Klassische mythische Erzählelemente, wie etwa das Szenario einer drohenden Apokalypse, sind in den politischen und (populär-)wissenschaftlichen Diskussionen beständig präsent und werden mitunter bewusst aufgegriffen, um die Gesellschaft ökologisch zu mobilisieren. Daneben wird der Klimawandel aber auch vielfach zum Thema und Motor neuer Mythen: »Neo- und Retromythen«. Deren Analyse verspricht neue Perspektiven auf drängende Herausforderungen unserer Zeit und auf die modernen Weltbilder in der vielerorts ausgerufenen Ära der Ökologie.

Gaia: A New Look At Life on Earth may continue to divide opinion, but nobody can deny that the book offers a powerful insight into the creative thinking of its author, James E. Lovelock. Published in 1979, Gaia offered a radically new hypothesis: the Earth, Lovelock argued, is a living entity. Together, the planet and all its separate living organisms form a single self-regulating body, sustaining life and helping it evolve through time. Lovelock sees humans as no more special than other elements of the planet, railing against the once widely-held belief that the good of mankind is the only thing that matters. Despite being seen as radical, and even idiotic on its publication, a version of Lovelock's viewpoint has found resonance in contemporary debates about the environment and climate, and has now broadly come to be accepted by modern thinkers. As man's effects on the climate become increasingly extreme, more and more elements of the Earth's self-regulation seem to be unveiled – forcing scientists to ask how far the planet might be able to go in order self-regulate effectively. Indeed, despite its far-fetched elements, Lovelock's Gaia thesis seems to ring more convincingly today than ever before; that it does is largely a result of the critical thinking skills that allowed Lovelock to produce novel explanations for existing evidence and, above all, to connect existing fragments of evidence together in new ways.

The emergence of modern sciences in the seventeenth century profoundly renewed our understanding of nature. For the last three centuries new ideas of nature have been continually developed by theology, politics, economics, and science, especially the sciences of the material world. The situation is even more unstable today, now that we have entered an ecological mutation of unprecedented scale. Some call it the Anthropocene, but it is best described as a new climatic regime. And a new regime it certainly is, since the many unexpected connections between human activity and the natural world oblige every one of us to reopen the earlier notions of nature and redistribute what had been packed inside. So the question now arises: what will replace the old ways of looking at nature? This book explores a potential candidate proposed by James Lovelock when he chose the name'Gaia'for the fragile, complex system through which living phenomena modify the Earth. The fact that he was immediately misunderstood proves simply that his readers have tried to fit this new notion into an older frame, transforming Gaia into a single organism, a kind of giant thermostat, some sort of New Age goddess, or even divine Providence. In this series of lectures on'natural religion,'Bruno Latour argues that the complex and ambiguous figure of Gaia offers, on the contrary, an ideal way to disentangle the ethical, political, theological, and scientific aspects of the now obsolete notion of nature. He lays the groundwork for a future collaboration among scientists, theologians, activists, and artists as they, and we, begin to adjust to the new climatic regime.

How have sociologists responded to the emergence of environmentalism? What has sociology to offer the study of environmental problems? This uniquely comprehensive guide traces the origins and development of environmental movements and environmental issues, providing a critical review of the most significant debates in the new field of environmental sociology. It covers environmental ideas, environmental movements, social constructionism, critical realism,'ecocentric'theory, environmental identities, risk society theory, sustainable development, Green consumerism, ecological modernization and debates around modernity and post- modernity. Philip Sutton adopts a long-term view, which focuses on the relationship between ideas of nature and environment, ecological identities and social change, providing a framework for future research.Bringing environmental isssues into contact with sociological theories, Nature, Environment and Society provides an up-to-date introduction to this important new field. It will be essential reading for all students of sociology, environmental studies and anyone interested in understanding environmental problems.

Exploring the broad implications of evolutionary theorist Lynn Margulis's work, this collection brings together specialists across a range of disciplines, from paleontology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory, and geobiology to developmental systems theory, archaeology, history of science, cultural science studies, and literature and science. Addressing the multiple themes that animated Margulis's science, the essays within take up, variously, astrobiology and the origin of life, ecology and symbiosis from the microbial to the planetary scale, the coupled interactions of earthly environments and evolving life in Gaia theory and earth system science, and the connections of these newer scientific ideas to cultural and creative productions.Dorion Sagan acquaints the reader with salient issues in Lynn Margulis's scientific work, the controversies they raised, and the vocabulary necessary to follow the arguments. Sankar Chatterjee synthesizes several strands of current theory for the origin of life on earth. James Strick tells the intertwined origin stories of James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis and Margulis's serial endosymbiosis theory. Jan Sapp explores the distinct phylogenetic visions of Margulis and Carl Woese. Susan Squier examines the epigenetics of embryologist and developmental biologist C. H. Waddington. Bruce Clarke studies the convergence of ecosystem ecology, systems theory, and science fiction between the 1960s and the 1980s. James Shapiro discusses the genome evolution that results not from random changes but rather from active cell processes. Susan Oyama shows how the concept of development balances an over-emphasis on genetic coding and other deterministic schemas. Christopher Witmore studies the ways in which a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, mixes up natural resources, animal lives, and human appetites. And Peter Westbroek brings the insights of earth system science toward a new worldview essential for a proper response to global change.

A visionary guide to safely using psilocybin mushrooms to tap in to the wisdom of Nature and reconnect humanity to the biosphere • Explores the ecopsychological effects of wild psychedelic mushrooms, including enhanced biophilia, expanded awareness, eco-shamanic encounters, and access to the ancient wisdom that binds all life on Earth • Examines the most recent scientific studies on psilocybin in the U.S. and U.K. • Details the author's work to keep the use of psilocybin mushrooms legal in the U.K. and shows that an irrational rejection of scientific evidence underlies the harsh war against psychedelic states of consciousness Psilocybin, the active ingredient found in psychedelic mushrooms, is an invaluable natural resource for spiritually revivifying the human psyche and reconnecting us to the biosphere and the vast intelligence of Nature. Interweaving the most recent scientific studies in the United States and Britain, more than 25 years of sacred mushroom exploration, and behind-the-scenes details on the political wars against psychedelics, Simon G. Powell offers a guide to safely navigating and maximizing the healing and spiritual potential of psilocybin. Powell explores the ecopsychological effects of wild psychedelic mushrooms, including enhanced biophilia, expanded awareness, mystical visions, and eco-shamanic encounters. He reveals how the beings and otherworldly teachers common in psilocybin experiences are actually emissaries from our higher consciousness that emerge when the floodgates of perception have been opened. He shares vivid descriptions from many of his own psilocybin journeys and shows how the mushroom offers a path of return to the ancient wisdom binding all life on Earth, a wisdom conveyed through tutorial visions and higher modes of perception. Illustrating psilocybin's healthful properties, now acknowledged by mainstream science, Powell describes his activism in the fight to keep psilocybin mushroom use legal in the U.K. and shows that an irrational rejection of scientific evidence underlies the harsh war against psychedelic states of consciousness. Laying the groundwork for a new relationship with our biosphere, Powell shows how the Earth's psychedelic medicines can reconnect us to the spirituality and wisdom of Nature and bring the human race back from the brink of ecological and existential disaster.

The great scientific visionary of our age presents a radical vision of humanity's future as the thinking brain of our Earth-system.A Rough Ride to the Future introduces two new Lovelock­ian ideas. The first is that three hundred years ago, when Thomas Newcomen invented the steam engine, he was un­knowingly beginning what James Lovelock calls “accelerated evolu­tion.” That is a process that is bringing about change on our planet roughly a million times faster than Darwinian evolution. The second idea is that as part of this process, humanity has the capacity to become the intelligent part of Gaia, the self-regulating earth system whose discovery Lovelock first an­nounced nearly fifty years ago. A Rough Ride to theFuture is also an intellectual autobiography, in which Lovelock reflects on his life as a lone scientist and asks—eloquently—whether his career trajec­tory is possible in an age of increased bureaucratization. We are now changing the atmosphere again, and Lovelock argues that there is little that can be done about this. But instead of feeling guilty, we should recognize what is happening, prepare for change, and ensure that we survive as a species so we can contribute to—perhaps even guide—the next evolution of Gaia. The road will be rough, but if we are smart enough, life will continue on earth in some form far into the future.Praise for A Rought Ride to the Future“Arresting and disturbing... Lovelock writes wonderfully well. With the authority of age, his voice is that of an elder statesman... The result is mellifluous and fluent.” —Nature “Though the subject matter could scarcely be more discouraging, Lovelock's fluent prose and vast range of knowledge make it a surprisingly easy read.... His writing has enormous warmth and vitality.” —Financial Times “The most important book for me this year... Lovelock is the most prescient of scientists.... He has given us a handbook for human survival.” —John Gray, The Guardian“Not simply another look at Mother Nature's uncertain future, but a revealing glimpse at the life of an outspoken and accomplished man of ideas.” —Publishers Weekly