This is about the closest thing I have to a religion. The Gaia Theory/Hypothesis is basically the idea that living organisms and their surroundings are part of a dynamic system that shapes the Earth's self regulating biosphere. Not to say I don't believe in climate change and global warming, it's very real. So really, the planet itself is an organism itself. I tend to take this idea a bit further. I think that the collective consciousness of every living thing makes up Earth's consciousness. In my mind, that's all any being is; Awareness confined in a physical body.
These kind of thoughts bring me to an idea of absolute equality between all living things. This is why I usually don't kill spiders or support the death penalty. To me every single living thing is equal, has potential and deserves life. You could call me a hypocrite because I'm not a vegan, but this is still a grey area for me. My actions are contradictory to my beliefs. I like to eat meat. I'm sure it's an essential part of our diet. But I strongly disagree with the mass production and exploitation of animals for human consumption.
If you think about, what we do to other species is a bit like racism or sexism. Humanity's disrespect and discrimination against other species than their own can be called specisism. Although we share the planet with other organisms, which contribute to our existence, we have no empathy or compassion for them. This comes from 'Earthlings', a feature length documentary. It's disturbing at times, but please have a watch: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=6361872964130308142#. Anyway, these are just my silly thoughts.
4 comments:
You are so cool. Very important stuff. Totally.
thank you. i just want people to realise what's happening around them. same goes for me.
This reminds me a lot of Buddhist philosophy. I've heard Buddhists use the analogy of a hand removing thorns from a foot. The hand is not hurt by the thorn, but still does what it can to alleviate the foot's pain. So we shouldn't just help one another out and avoid causing suffering out of selflessness, but because we are part of the same organism.
Like the post - reminds me of Systems Theory. See the Amoeba assumption of innovation diffusion in organisations http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC28/AtKisson.htm
I think the interdependence assumption runs from big world to small worlds. Kinda like how the solar system and atoms look the same.
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