Termyn8or
Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
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I just got out of a discussion about volcanos and stuff. (no weed comments please) We agree on some things, but he has a different angle. He seems to see the planet as a life form. First of all we agree that Man's impact on the entirety of the ecosystem is probably neglible. But that's not the point. Can the Earth be considered alive ?
Thinking about the volcanos now, where do they happen ? No matter how technical you get, the short answer is in the weak spots on the crust. When a volcano forms, it might get big, what determines how big ? Perhaps the bigger the problem, the bigger response. Response ? Can this be equated in some rudimentary way with a life form ?
We didn't get into the postulaion that then, maybe we are actually parasites, but even if we are we should strive to be the best parasites we can be. Good ammo for treehuggers : "Well then we shouldn't kill the host". Good ammo for the oilpumpers : "We are part of the environment, everything comes from the Earth, this comes from the Earth too". [N]either side is right on most issues, [not] completely. (<looks at that funny)
But can the Earth be considered a living thing ? If it is and we treat it as such, just how well do we want to treat it ? Are we going to handle it with kid gloves or have a bit of confidence in it. Him or her ? Who cares, living or not. If you think of it as living then you think of it as alive. I had never considered it that way until today.
Barring modern marvels, usually that which does not kill us makes us stronger. Can we actually have the role of the antagonist ? The trainer, the DI, the Dojo ? For example this problem in the gulf. Who knows what might happen in fifty years. Maybe nothing maybe something, but then the question is did we cause it ? And what will be the response ?
He thinks he's right, that the Earth is a form of life. I really can't quite find a place from which to argue against it. That bodies of water and land mass, the atmosphere and the rivers and lakes - that they are like the organs of a body.
This is not some treehugging bull. This is a different perspective than I've considered. This is way more than that, and then might it follow that the universe is the Earth's "world: ?
He said " Why don't they think that way ? ", and I responded " It's not in the book ".
If we take the perspective that the Earth is alive, this is a bit more than crop rotation, but in no way do I say we should start worshipping some stone goat in Bumfukteria somewhere. I mean the method of thought.
T^T
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Conceptually oblique ecological theory - 
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