THE GAEA HYPOTHESIS
Professor explains controversial theory from Europe that the theory of evolution as we understand it is a complete reversal of what actually occurs in what we attribute to the weight of influence to environment rather than to the living organism.
Science traditionally has held to the attitude that natural
organisms are a product of the environment: those fit to
survive, survive . . . and those unfit, parish. "Ecology"
is usually referred to as the relationship which exists
between natural organisms and their environment, with the
influence of the environment predominating.
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Recently, however, a British scientist—James
Lovelock—has made a rather radical proposal which he
calls the "Gaea hypothesis" (after the Greek. goddess of
the earth). His suggestion is that the theory of evolution
as we understand it is a complete reversal of what actually
occurs in that we attribute the weight of influence to
environment rather than to the living organism.
The germ of Lovelock's theory comes from observations made
of outer space photographs of the planet, in which the
earth's mantle of atmosphere—drawn about her like a
cloak—suggested to him a protective modification of
the environment (such as a snail might find in its shell).
"If all the life organisms on earth are subtly
interrelated," he reasoned, "is it not possible that it is,
in fact, one organism ... one Life? And
is it not possible that Life has in large measure shaped
the environment of the earth to Its requirements, rather
than being primarily a product of environmental
circumstance?"
Life on earth, Lovelock feels, clearly exhibits the
characteristic of being a single organism with man in the
midst. And man, because of his nature, should be capable of
functioning something like a central nervous system to the
whole, thereby enhancing its development. Man, however, has
failed in this responsibility and, instead, proceeds
willy-nilly to alter the environment without regard for the
greater organism he centers. He alters the environment on
impulse ... an impulse which disregards the Life of the
Whole.
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