A Gaian is a radical Green who views the ecology of the Earth's biosphere not only as the basis of human moral examples, but of all cognition and even sentience. Advocates of this view claim that since we live as part of one planet's photosynthesis chain and trapped within its gravity well, we are effectively components of one large body—that being the global ecology of Earth itself. Greens are people who support some or all of goals of a Green Party without necessarily working with or voting for that or any party. ... The word ecology is often used in common parlance as a synonym for the natural environment or environmentalism. ... The biosphere is that part of a planets outer shell — including air, land, surface rocks and water — within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform. ... Look up Cognition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The term cognition (Latin, cogito: to think) is used in several different loosely related ways. ... Sentience is a capacity for basic consciousness—the ability to feel or perceive, not necessarily including the faculty of self-awareness. ... Leaf. ... Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ...

Another name for this value theory is "radical values environmentalism"—individuals and societies are ways to create such a thriving ecosystem, but cannot be considered as being ends in themselves. Value theory concerns itself with the worth, utility, trading or economic value, moral value, legal value, quantitative or aesthetic value of people and things - or the combination of all these. ... Radical values environmentalism is a view that the only intrinsically good thing is a flourishing ecosystem; individuals and societies are merely instrumentally valuable, as means to having a flourishing ecosystem. ... In ecology, the word ecosystem is an abbreviation of the term, ecological system. ...

An early advocate of this view was Buckminster Fuller who developed the Dymaxion Map of the world, the first world projection to show the continents on a flat surface without visible distortion—and the earth as being essentially one island in one ocean. In Critical Path, 1981, he claimed to prove that "gravity is love". Critics say this view makes humans "slaves of the Earth" and argue that human destiny is to spread out to find or form many living worlds. In contrast, some Gaians see such colonists as locusts or a disease, and may see all human beings as elements of a single Earth-wide ecology, if not organism. They are often hard to differentiate from members of the New Age movement, with which they share the goal of deep spiritual integration. In the U.S. postage stamp commemorating Buckminster Fuller and his contributions to architecture and science, some of his inventions are visible. ... Unfolded Dymaxion map with nearly-contiguous land masses. ... The Mercator projection shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... [[Image:http://www. ... In biology and ecology, an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is a complex adaptive system of organs that influence each other in such a way that they function as a more or less stable whole and have properties of life. ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... Spirituality is, in a narrow sense, a concern with matters of the spirit. ...

Political Gaians are a relatively recent offshoot of the ecology movement—and get their name from the Gaia hypothesis, a scientific theory first developed by James Lovelock. The global ecology movement is one of several new social movements that emerged at the end of the sixties; as a values-driven social movement, it should be distinguished from the pre-existing science of ecology. ... A Gaia theory is a class of scientific models of the biosphere in which life fosters and maintains suitable conditions for itself by affecting Earths environment. ... James Lovelock in front of a statue of Gaia in 2000 James Ephraim Lovelock (born July 26, 1919), FRS, is an independent scientist, author, researcher and environmentalist who lives in Cornwall, in the south west of Great Britain. ...

This holds that the biosphere tends to homeorhetic balance or even homeostasis with the implication that human beings should be working toward such balances or states. Or, in more radical terms, as part of an Earth immune system. The biosphere is that part of a planets outer shell — including air, land, surface rocks and water — within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform. ... Homeostasis is the property of an open system, especially living organisms, to regulate its internal environment to maintain a stable, constant condition, by means of multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustments, controlled by interrelated regulation mechanisms. ... The Earth immune system is a controversial proposal, claimed to be a consequence of the Gaia hypothesis. ...

Activist Gaians are sometimes described as terrists although this label is controversial—and designed to encourage and evoke such controversy. There is no obvious or certain connection between the Gaian philosophy and the action of terrists—or terrorists. New Age Gaians in particular seem to resent this label, as their goals are spiritual not material. Terrist (less commonly terraist) is a neologism referring to environmentalists who engage in actions considered by some to be terrorism, (eco-terrorism) including violent destruction of property as well as various types of nonviolent direct action. ... Terrist (less commonly terraist) is a neologism referring to environmentalists who engage in actions considered by some to be terrorism, (eco-terrorism) including violent destruction of property as well as various types of nonviolent direct action. ... Terrorism refers to the use of violence for the purpose of achieving a political, religious, or ideological goal. ... New Age Gaians are people who have taken the Gaia Theory of James Lovelock to the point of being a religion of sorts. ...