One with Nature
Thursday,3 September 2009 by TazBurwaiss
What has Gaia theory and French postmodern philosopher Gilles Deleuze have in common?
Many people may question, why are environmental issues important, anyway? Respecting nature as a living Being with independent rights is hocus pocus stuff only read in fairytales, right? And are some people seriously suggesting that we base Green issues at the base of our political decisions, that’s madness surely? Well as I want to demonstrate to you now there are strong rational arguments that favour this romantic view of our world.
One of the most important hypothesis’s, Gaia theory, was brought out in 1969 by one Professor James Lovelock, a theory that over time has been met with extreme disdain, but gradually and most recently has been gaining momentum in establishing itself as a serious theory.
Gaia theory explains that living organisms are responsible for maintaining the planets steady climate patterns. It paints a picture to show the planet and its living eco systems as one whole living entity. According to this theory it would seem apparently obvious that it is due to human activity and the way we abuse the Earths natural resources for our own interests, and thus ignoring the interests of the planet, that is the cause of climate change.
There are therefore some environmentalists who believe that us human beings must begin to respect and even embrace nature as an interconnected force. The idea that then begins to develop is one of conscious liberation. That if we consciously choose to embrace ourselves as being at one with nature, and not independent of it, then as a species we can begin to evolve, as nature itself evolves, and this will thus propel the human spirit to new heights of enlightenment. This is an idea that is making waves not only in fields of quantum science but post-modern philosophy too.
The work of Gilles Deleuze is so highly acclaimed within academic circles that it led Michel Foucault to declare that, “one day, perhaps, this century will be called Deleuzean”. Deleuze writes of an ‘unconscious’ force within nature known as the ‘Rhizome’, which connects everything in the Universe.
Deleuze’s Rhizome is something spiritual within the ‘nervous and temporal’ unconscious fabric of space and time. Truth cannot be designed by an independent human mind, but rather the mind must become conscious of the unpredictable fluidity found within the Rhizome.
The significance of the work of both the professor and the philosopher are clear. Human Beings must begin to value nature as their equal, not only as a means to survive the threat of climate change but to spiritually evolve as a conscious entity.
Tags: climate change, consciousness, Gaia, Gilles Deleuze