Ed, Darwin and mutation are at work in a closed loop. On the other hand, the Mars explorers may show us that parts of the loop are drifting off into space.
Bill On Wed, 4 Jun 2003 20:23:56 -0400 "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > But what if the system is not interacting and closed looped? What if > each > species (or family) looks after itself and promotes itself without > enhancing or embellishing the others, but really crowding them out > and > getting rid of them to make room for itself? Gaia may not be > primordially > cooperative, but primordially inherently viciously competitive. My > cerebral, intelligent dinosaur would never have thought that it (he > or she) > would ever be eclipsed, but there wase a little proto-mammal lurking > near > by, avoiding being eaten. Then along came a rock from outer space, > landing > in the Gulf of Mexico. Random? Absolutely. > > Ed Weick > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "pete" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 6:20 PM > Subject: Re: [Futurework] Gaia Hypothesis... > > > > > > On Tue, 3 Jun 2003, Ed Weick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > >> Robert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >> > > >>> Don't know about Gaia being 'new-agey.' I was thinking more > in terms > > >>> of James Lovelock's notion that 'earth, in all its > interactions and > > >>> transformations, added up to a single giant living system.' > > >> > > >> arthur > > >> > > >> I would make one change. An additional word. Random. > > > > > >I agree with Arthur. I read the Gaia stuff years ago and felt > that the > > >notion that the Earth and all it's living systems were somehow > > >directional or purposeful is nonsense. The beauty of Gaia is > that it is > > >essentially chaotic and you never know where it is going next. > Picture a > > >very clever and very cerebral dinosaur. Could it have > contemplated a > > >world without it but with us? > > > > Not directional or purposeful, in the sense of consciously goal > > oriented, simply persistent and self-correcting, by negative > > feedback, as a closed loop system in the systems engineering > sense. > > A living system is a special case of a CL system, where the > > feedback is developed by the actions of organisms, which > > behave actively to contribute to th feedback mechanisms, > > allowing for much more and more rapid opportunities for > > feedback subsystems to arise than in passive, inanimate > > natural environments, where such systems can arise, but are > > rare and of limited range and flexibility. Once a living > > system is established, the requirements of the living components > > tend to enhance and embellish the feedback aspects through > > natural selection operating on a macrosopic scale on populations. > > > > You have to distinguish the "hardnosed" core Gaia Hypothesis from > > the froth whipped up around it by the soft-of-thinking. > > > > -Pete Vincent > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Futurework mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
