Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
tease out the web of connections between assumptions and actions at all levels of one's
life in order to articulate an ethical standpoint, which, although provisional and always
under revision, can help to guide our lifestyle choices. In questioning society, one tries
to understand its underlying assumptions from an ecological perspective by looking at
the collective psychological origins of the ecological crisis and of the related crises of
peace and social justice. This deep questioning of the fundamental assumptions of our
culture contrasts markedly with the mainstream shallow or
reform
approach, which tries
to ensure the continuance of business as usual by advocating the 'greening' of business
and industry through a range of measures such as pollution prevention and the protec-
tion of biodiversity due to its monetary value as medicine or for its ability to regulate
climate. Finally, one feels a sense of
deep commitment
for the work of bringing about
change in peaceful and democratic ways, which feeds back to deepen one's experience.
Thinking:
James Lovelock and Gaia Theory
The perception of Gaia doesn't necessarily happen only through the gateways of intu-
ition, sensing and feeling—thinking is an equally powerful avenue. The most pre-em-
inent example of a person in whom Gaia has manifested through an intellectual inspir-
ation is of course the British scientist and inventor James Lovelock, renowned for his
theory of a selfregulating Earth which he named after Gaia. Lovelock stumbled upon
the concept of a living Earth whilst working for NASA in the 1960s on the problem of
detecting life on Mars. Lovelock was well known as the inventor of the electron capture
detector (the ECD), an exquisitely sensitive instrument which provided the data for the
shocking discovery, popularised by Rachel Carson in her topic
Silent Spring,
that DDT
and other dangerous pesticides were widely distributed throughout the biosphere, par-
ticularly in animals high up the food chain such as birds of prey.
NASA needed someone who would design a life-detecting instrument that could be
put on board a mission to Mars. It was clear to them that Lovelock was well qualified
for this task, but as it turned out, they had not reckoned on his astonishing capacity for
creative holistic thinking. The scientists engaged in the life-detection project were try-
ing to devise instruments which would sample the material on the Martian surface for
Earthlike organisms and their biochemical products, but Lovelock suspected that such
experiments would be of no use if life on Mars was biochemically and physically dif-
ferent to life on Earth, or if the lander happened to sample a region of the planet where
life just happened to be absent. As he wondered whether an holistic approach might be
more appropriate, a brilliant intuition suddenly bubbled up into Lovelock's mind: per-
haps one could detect life on Mars at the level of the whole planet by analysing its at-
