Mind Matters Talk with Tim Lenton

“Gaia as seen from within”

Gaia Series

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Gaia was discovered from two very different perspectives: From a top-down approach to
detecting life on a planet by looking for disequilibrium in its atmosphere, and from a bottom-
up tracing of the gaseous emanations of microbes and humans throughout the global
atmosphere. I will follow the latter, less familiar path. Seeing Gaia from within invites us to
renegotiate our relationships with the other living things with whom we share the critical zone
– the thin film of air, water, and soils that we both collectively create and that supports us.
We humans are knocking that critical zone out of whack, and fast, risking dangerous tipping
points. Can we self-regulate, thus adding a little self-awareness to Gaia? And can we do so
fast enough, before we destroy the conditions needed for human flourishing? The only
credible path we have left ourselves demands rapid and deep social and technological
transformation. Positive tipping points where change becomes self-propelling could provide
the speed we need. But to achieve the necessary depth of change, we need to tip worldview
and take some lessons in sustainability and flourishing from the rest of Gaia.