i read that through out history that people believe that the earth is it's own entity. they reckon that it looks after itself and can act in self defence too. do you people believe this is possible.

Jameson's Theory of the Composition of the Universe: 95% of everything is stupid.

Why would nature evolve organic intelligence if any old rock could be just as smart/self-aware?

Mining is murder and making concrete is cloning. Right. :rolleyes:

:D

Originally posted by andy1033
i read that through out history that people believe that the earth is it's own entity. they reckon that it looks after itself and can act in self defence too. do you people believe this is possible.

There is the theory that the Earth, in and of itself, is not an entity, but rather is a system. When looked at as a whole, there may actually be more to it than the sum of it's parts (weather, animal life, plant life, oceans, land mass movement, etc.). Similarly, there is much discussion about the intelligence of man being more than can be accounted for by the sum of his parts (brain, chemical reactions, neurons, etc.).

I guess it depends upon how you define "itself". :)

the Gaia theory. True to a point, "space ship earth". The earth is, basically, a self-contained, closed ecological system. It just happens to be very huge. And yeah, it does have ways to keep up its maintenance, etc.

Originally posted by NenarTronian
the Gaia theory. True to a point, "space ship earth". The earth is, basically, a self-contained, closed ecological system. It just happens to be very huge. And yeah, it does have ways to keep up its maintenance, etc.

Not entirely closed, but there isn't much coming into it (that we know of).

:)

Right.

A lot of EM radiation including photons without which our life would not exist.

Originally posted by kmguru
A lot of EM radiation including photons without which our life would not exist.

Good point! (I should've thought of that...)

Originally posted by BatM
Good point! (I should've thought of that...)

Well, think fast...you have only 26 postings....very good ones, I might add...:D

Originally posted by kmguru
Well, think fast...you have only 26 postings....very good ones, I might add...:D

That's 86! (now 87)

I believe in "discussion", so I try to make them good ones that will elicit (some) good discussion. ;)

BatM,

I would echo kmguru's thoughts that you should post a bit more. You have the aptitude and the intellegence. So use it...

Originally posted by wet1
BatM,

I would echo kmguru's thoughts that you should post a bit more. You have the aptitude and the intellegence. So use it...

Thanks. I get around, but I can't be everywhere at once. Actually, I'm probably spending far too much time posting and not enough time working. :(

Considering the discussions that go on here, perhaps some of you should also take a look at the forums on the Amazing Randi's website (http://www.randi.org). Just a thought.

Maybe it does have defense mechanisms. Say we, the human race, is a virus from the Earth's standpoint. We pollute and destroy, while we multiply without any signs of slowing down or adapting. And out of nowhere, viruses and diseases break out and wipe out tons of people. Where do they come from? No one really knows where E Bola came from.. other than being a virus that evolved from its ancestor strains which only affected monkeys. Maybe it was the Earth protecting itself. Maybe the earth sleeps just like other organisms, except when it sleeps, it's called an Ice Age. When you think that way, you can come up with a lot of other similarities that the earth has with other organisms.

Originally posted by Awaranowski
Say we, the human race, is a virus from the Earth's standpoint.

Are we a good virus or bad? Since, the Earth allowed itself for us to grow and get a foot hold to a point of having the ability to protect earth from asteroid impact (one of these days) - I would assume, we are the good guys with sometimes unintended problems...

"Are we a good virus or bad? Since, the Earth allowed itself for us to grow and get a foot hold to a point of having the ability to protect earth from asteroid impact (one of these days) - I would assume, we are the good guys with sometimes unintended problems.."

Viruses are self-serving. If we do something to keep a meteor from knocking into us, it's not because we love the planet. We're doing it to save our own asses. Sparing the planet is a side effect. When we've multiplied too much and we've used up all the earths' resources, we're likely to move out into outerspace to colonize and infiltrate other planets to survive. And who says we'll be able to protect earth from an asteroid? It would probably do the earth a favor by wiping us out.

Originally posted by Awaranowski
Viruses are self-serving. If we do something to keep a meteor from knocking into us, it's not because we love the planet. We're doing it to save our own asses. Sparing the planet is a side effect. When we've multiplied too much and we've used up all the earths' resources, we're likely to move out into outerspace to colonize and infiltrate other planets to survive. And who says we'll be able to protect earth from an asteroid? It would probably do the earth a favor by wiping us out.

On the other hand, if you look at the humans (as well as animals and perhaps plants) as exhibiting a "swarm intelligence" with the earth as the core, then this "swarm" may represent the best chance for the Earth's evolution into the next stage. Of course, in this model, you have to stop thinking of the Earth as being limited to the ball of rock that circles the Sun.

Originally posted by BatM
On the other hand, if you look at the humans (as well as animals and perhaps plants) as exhibiting a "swarm intelligence" with the earth as the core, then this "swarm" may represent the best chance for the Earth's evolution into the next stage. Of course, in this model, you have to stop thinking of the Earth as being limited to the ball of rock that circles the Sun.

Excellent BatM. If that is true (even a small possibility) we need to rethink our knowledge management infrastructure. Otherwise, with the geometric information explosion, instead of order, we will have chaos in short order. (Like instead of bees making honey in a hive, each one will be heading to their own teeny weenie nest and all hell ...)

Originally posted by kmguru
Excellent BatM. If that is true (even a small possibility) we need to rethink our knowledge management infrastructure. Otherwise, with the geometric information explosion, instead of order, we will have chaos in short order. (Like instead of bees making honey in a hive, each one will be heading to their own teeny weenie nest and all hell ...)

Not really. You have to consider what the evolution might be leading to. The bee hive's purpose is to acquire food, make honey, support the queen, and grow the next generation. As the next generation grows up and moves out, the hive becomes a superhive whose purpose is to grow the genetic population of the race through the creation of more hives. As the hives grow, they may conflict from time to time, but, in general, they support the growth of the overall bee race by doing things like ensuring that the flowers they depend upon grow and cross-pollenate.

Also, remember that, according to Chaos Theory, there is a certain amount of "order" in chaos. :)