Gaia

[Flapjack]

Earth may be viewed as a single organism. The Gaia spore concept states that Earth can reproduce via space colonization.

It may be that one role we play is as the senses and nervous system for Gaia (Earth). Through our eyes she has for the first time seen her very fair face and in our minds become aware of herself.

Ants are the best-known example of a superorganism. With the development of the Internet, a highly efficient global interconnectedness is developing, opening the possibility that a single, global, human superorganism will ensue.

A superorganism is an organism consisting of many organisms. This is usually meant to be a social unit of animals, where division of labour is highly specialised and where individuals are not able to survive by themselves for extended periods of time.

[salviasofthead]

Interesting thread Flapjack. I'm looking forward to some thoughtful responses...

ssh

[jbmac]

Everything is connected. There can be no flowers without bees. No faces without bodies. There can be no me without you.

[Flapjack]

Heres some more on Gaia, superorganisms and ANTS!

Gaia Hypothesis - deals with the concept of homeostasis, and claims the resident life forms of a host planet coupled with their environment have acted and act as a single, self-regulating system. This perspective of Earth makes it a kind of superorganism.

Lewis Thomas believed that Earth should be viewed as a single cell; he derived this view from Johannes Kepler's view of Earth as a single round organism. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a paleontologist and geologist, believed that evolution unfolded from cell to organism to planet to solar system and ultimately the whole universe, as we humans see it from our limited perspective.

There is a spectrum of Gaia hypotheses. At one end is the undeniable statement that the organisms on the Earth have radically altered its composition.

A strong position is that the Earth's biosphere effectively acts as if it is a self-organizing system which works in such a way as to keep its systems in some kind of equilibrium that is conducive to life.

An even stronger claim is that all lifeforms are part of a single planetary being, called Gaia. In this view, the atmosphere, the seas, the terrestrial crust would be the result of interventions carried out by Gaia, through the coevolving diversity of living organisms.

The most extreme form of Gaia theory is that the entire Earth is a single unified organism; in this view the Earth's biosphere is consciously manipulating the climate in order to make conditions more conducive to life.

The more speculative versions of Gaia, including versions in which it is believed that the Earth is actually conscious, sentient, and highly intelligent, are usually considered outside the bounds of what is usually considered science.

Superorganisms - They exhibit a form of "distributed intelligence," a system in which many individual agents with limited intelligence and information are able to pool resources to accomplish a goal beyond the capabilities of the individuals.

Some have suggested that humans are each a superorganism, because in every typical human being is over 1013 to 1014 microorganisms performing a variety of tasks, but mainly helping with digestion. Microorganisms in the human body outnumber our cells over 10-to-1, and their genetic material outnumbers ours 100-to-1. Many of these have not been isolated or studied.

In the iconic superorganism, an ant colony, there are specialized ants to deal with various tasks. Soldier ants to defend the colony, worker ants to gather food, a queen ant to lay eggs, etc. Termite mounds are similar. Termites actually construct elaborate cathedral mounds, which may reach 9 m (30 ft) high in extraordinary cases. All these colonies operate as unified entities. Soldier ants may willingly sacrifice themselves in defense of the nest, an unusual behavior among animals, which are usually shaped by evolution to be self-preserving.

Some thinkers have somewhat fancifully called human information networks the emerging signs of a global superorganism.

[Flapjack]

What I want answered is, if the Earth is a superorganism, cell or what not, than what is our place in this creature? I like the spore idea. We are Earths spores on a mission to colonize another planet inorder for Gaia to reproduce!

[nepalnt21]

very interesting...

i have always been fascinated by ants. they are so much fun to watch.



i have so many thoughts on this, ill have to come back once ive thought about it more. but that said, i have, for a long time, held the belief (i pretty much take it as fact now) that the earth is one, intelligent being. i can certainly apply that to the solar system, and probably o the universe if i thought about it.

[nepalnt21]

perhaps our placement here is more spiritual than anything

[jbmac]

The Sun is necessary for the Earth to function - everything is connected.
Does light create stars - or do stars create light, or both?

[i-jinx]

Gaia doesn't even need technology using genebots like us for reproduction. Asteroid strikes at very shallow angles can kick chunks of lifebearing rock into space at speeds greater than the escape velocity of the solar system. Right now there may be freeze-dried microbes en route to other planets. Maybe this is how the earth got fertilized in the first place?

Instructions: Add water, shake well. If authoritarian governments and tacky talent shows should appear, sterilize the medium and start over.

[salviasofthead]

Originally Posted by Flapjack

What I want answered is, if the Earth is a superorganism, cell or what not, than what is our place in this creature? I like the spore idea. We are Earths spores on a mission to colonize another planet inorder for Gaia to reproduce!

More like toxic mould or cancer, I think... at least currently in this particular Gaia equation.

IMHO, spiritually would be a different story.

ssh