Gaia theory and its relationship to faiths

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by DrFree

Hi, Bandit,

Actually the form of the faith that seems go along with the Gaia Hypothesis is panentheism, not pantheism. Pantheism is the belief that everything is divine, i.e., a god. Panentheism, on the other hand, is that we are all part of the divine. For a panentheistic Gaian, the earth is alive, and it is the activity of you and me and everyone and everything else that constitutes that life.

Is Gaia conscious? Aware of you and me? Hard questions to which we don't have objective answers. In some ways there is analogy between the human brain and the network of people and computers and other computer-like objects. Could that network come to have an integrated consciousness the way the brain did? Probably not without evolution to try out and discard non-working forms of consciousness. (Note that Gaia is an individual that changes through the evolution of the species that constitute it; Gaia does not itself evolve.) But it's not impossible.

Note that panentheism as a form of faith is a little like Dennett's theory of the mind. For Dennett, the mind is not something to be found someplace inside the brain, it is the holistic activity of the whole brain. Similarly for a panentheist, God is not to be found among the things inside or outside the universe; God is the universe itself as a whole.

To put it another way, God is to the universe as Gaia is to the earth as you and I are to our respective bodies.

Namiste,
Dr Free

I did not know there was a difference & never considered there being any. I must agree there is.

This is much like the jesus/church & husband/bride metaphors. Though gaia is better or maybe a little deeper in some way as it searches for the actual connectors of what holds it all in place.

Similarly for a panentheist, God is not to be found among the things inside or outside the universe; God is the universe itself as a whole.

This is exactly how I see it & have for a long time.
Thanks for the reply & it was much appreciated & good to know of another, & it offers something tangible.

I also see Gaia changing with the universe but not neccessarily evolving itself as you mentioned, though not impossible.

Nice