The Editorial
By Scot Rhoads
Don't Be Shy!
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A brief note to let you all know that life conspired against an article from Scott Cunningham this issue. We expect he will generously provide us with one for the next issue. Try to enjoy this issue anyway.
Who is Gaia?
I'm sure we're all aware of the Victorian attitude of the fundamental superiority of humans over animals. The new attitude is that animals are superior to humans. For years now people have trotted out stories that animals don't kill for sport, live in tune with their environment, don't have wars, etc., ad nauseam.
But what is so impressive about noting that no rat has ever tested drugs on a human when there has never been an opportunity? If you look at behaviors in the context of the organism, you will find that the higher animals share quite a bit. We are not the only species that lies, kidnaps, has wars, spoils its environment, rapes, oppresses, abuses, kills apparently for pleasure, or deprecates. I don't have the space (or patience) for details, but I have heard of scientific observations of all these behaviors in other animals—mainly apes, but some as low as insects. It appears that there are few if any types of behavior that we do not share with the rest of the higher animals. Perhaps animals seem so bucolic and harmonious compared with humans not because of some kind of transcendent wisdom, but because they lack our opportunities. I wouldn't expect other species to act fundamentally different in our place.
Humans stand out because our development has outpaced that of the rest of our environment. When we act out of sync with the environment, it can be to such a huge degree that the environment cannot accommodate the changes as it can with other species. But this is a difference of scale, not of kind.
This difference has led to our seeing ourselves as apart from the rest of our environment (at least in the West). This is obviously true of the Victorian attitude of superiority; but it is equally true of the latest eco-self-deprecation. We are no more separate from our environment than mitochondria are separate from cells. [Sorry to throw that in, but it is a great metaphor and I need to get some use out of my bio degree. Suffice to say that mitochondria are not separate from cells.]
It is clear that we are a salient part of our environment (and not just from a human point of view). We have the capacity to destroy our environment. But since we are a part of Gaia, this would be Gaia destroying Herself.
But this is still speciecentric! Gaia would still be around in some form even if we were not. (See Don Kraig's Don't Save the Earth in NMR 3:6 for more discussion on this idea.) Energy/matter cannot be created or destroyed; only change forms. With that in mind, we are not destroyers, but changers. We are potentially Gaia's vehicle for massive and rapid change. This change could be dramatic enough that we will no longer be a part of Gaia after a while—definitely something to think about, but not objectively good or bad.
As a part of Gaia, we can say that any changes we make are Gaia's changes. By this definition, everything we do, She does. Every choice we make, She makes. We are the cognition of Gaia.
But just as our own cognition does not always choose best for our entire being, we may not always make the best choices in Gaia's interest. (I think few would dispute that.) Thus, our position as Gaia's cognition is less one of power than of responsibility. As individuals, our minds can choose behaviors like drinking and smoking that compromise the body's integrity and affect our judgment. Similarly, as humans we can choose actions like indiscriminate pesticide use, which alter the environment and our own health in ways unfavorable to us.
We have the power to shape the world, thus: through us, Gaia has the power to change Herself dramatically. The role that evolution has handed us is to be the force and mind behind that change. So far we have the force part down pretty good. The mind aspect is still discouragingly narrow, though. We need to become aware of our being a part of Gaia, and expand our consideration to include that. We should embrace our responsibility as the voice of Gaia. We should not be attacking, blaming and guilting. On the level of the superhuman being that we are a part of, these things lose their meaning; on our level, they inspire resistance and hate, which no one needs.
It is not vain; rather it is empowering to recognize that we are a part of the Earth. This not only recognizes our responsibilities, but also gives us total freedom in addressing them. Of course, this is a thing to fear if humans are unredeemably irresponsible. Perhaps then we should embrace alienating, narrow views of our place and how to behave. But though such a tactic may be better than not dealing with our dangerously unbalanced behaviors, I like to think we are better than that. And if we aren't, I'm not sure we have any hope. So I encourage a positive, cooperative attitude—not only cooperative with other humans, but with the other parts of this planet-body.
Blessed Be | 
