Bio week 4

The thing I thought was so interesting about the article, "Our common ancestor with chimps may be from Europe, not Africa," was how resistant scientists were to this idea. They cast off the idea because of a fossil they deemed was not good enough. The article said that they would be much more likely to accept this fossil had it come from Africa. It made me realize how stuck we get in our theories and how much we don't like having them challenged. Once we come up with a narrative, changing this narrative can be a real struggle for our egos.
I think the Gaia Theory is becoming more and more accepted (perhaps less with our current administration though). I think people are starting to view the earth as a living system in which we all are a part of. We can see this more and more with the environmental movements. It's much easier to not take responsibility for how we treat the planet if we view it as this dead rock on which we live. Honestly, the idea that the earth is not a living system that is affected by all life here is more absurd than not. The Gaia theory has been around in many forms for a long time. Like many traditional ways of looking at the world (like Chinese medicine), western culture obscured it for a long time, and it is now coming back more and more.

Comments

  1. alexJune 11, 2017 at 8:57 PM

    Lovely post :)
    I also think the Gaia theory is more accepted but what is happening with the Trump administration is challenging: trying to shut down the EPA, backing out of the Paris climate agreement when we are a YUUUUGE (joke) contributor to pollution and carbon emissions globally? Eek.
    It was the marches for Earth day that really made me realize that not everyone views the earth as a dead rock. I noticed a lot of children at the march in SF, I really liked one little girl's poster that said "Because this is our Home!". Yes! I was happy to see that.

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