The Evolutionary or Teleological or Strong Gaia theory
Teleological Gaia asserts that the atmosphere is kept in homeostasis, not just by the biosphere, but by and for the biosphere.
"the Earth's atmosphere is more than merely anomalous; it appears to be a contrivance specifically constituted for a set of purposes"
(Lovelock and Margulis 1974).
Optimizing Gaia asserts that the biota manipulate their physical environment for the purpose of creating biologically favorable, or even optimal, conditions for themselves.
"...it is unlikely that chance alone accounts for the fact that temperature, pH and the presence of compounds of nutrient elements have been, for immense periods, just those optimal for surface life. Rather, ... energy is expended by the biota to actively maintain these optima"exerpted from
(Lovelock and Margulis 1974)
The
Debate over the Gaia Hypothesis
Omega Gaia - an interpretation of Teilhard de Chardin's evolutionary metaphysics - the Earth as evolving through stages of geosphere, biosphere, and noosphere, culminating in the Omega Point.
The general gathering together in which, by correlated actions of the without and the within of the earth, the totality of thinking units and thinking forces are engaged - the aggregation in a single block of a mankind whose fragments weld together and interpenetrate before our eyes in spite of (indeed in proportion to) their efforts to separate - all this becomes intelligible from top to bottom as soon as we perceive it as the natural culmination of a cosmic process of organisation which has never varied since those remote ages when our planet was young."excerpted from
Teilhard de Chardin, Le Phenomene Humain
The
Gaia Hypothesis - Background Work of Others towards the Gaia Hypothesis
"Strong forms of Gaia and self-defining systems are found to share an interdisciplinary worldview where biological forms embody a source of novelty at the behavioral (functional) level that can be causally active in both ecology and evolution. This worldview requires...a basis for non-deterministic innovation at the organism and system level. A strong theoretical foundation may be found in quantum physics, in the principle of observership, and recent confirmation that quantum correlation can be magnified to macroscopic scale within suitable structures. "
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Gaia,
Our Living, Awakening Earth
Toward
a Special and General Theory of Autevolution - John
Jay Kineman - attempts to establish both a worldview context for
autevolution (as a strong basis for Gaia), and an epistemological framework
for evaluating paradigms. - very technical.
Various
Interpretations of Gaia
Living
in Harmony with Gaia - Holism and Ecological Spirituality
Gaia
and Consciousness - a metaphysical interpretation
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