Children of Gaia: The Diaspora

A recent discussion about technology on SpaceCamp's blog sparked something I considered a while ago and I figured I would share it with my Evolver peeps...

Gaia is about 4.5 billion years old and in the time since her birth, her vast array of diverse life has evolved in a very cyclical and natural pattern. Naturally selective evolution, symbiotic biospheres, and predators and prey getting along in a harmonious circle of life that constantly evolves and changes. The Earth itself regulates its own systems of atmosphere, temperature, and other factors but all life on the blue planet is linked to this interdependent web of life.

Then comes Humanity.

While the Lizard Kings, at their peak of evolution, had become the dominant predatory force on the planet, devouring as they pleased and battling over territory, the mammals that were taking shape across the globe were mostly livestock. These furry new species that were evolving in various areas of Earth were a distinct branch of the animal kingdom but had no real dominance in the shadow of the giant dinosaurs. They were mostly food.

But a particular group of mammals had developed the nifty trick of staying high up in the trees, out of reach for the many sets of teeth that roamed the jungles and forests. When the time of the dinosaurs ended and no giant predators roamed as before, these strange, inquisitive mammals that had watched from above for so long dared to come down from the trees. Over a few million years, they found a new use for their wonderfully useful opposable thumbs that had allowed them to hang from the safety of tree branches. They could pick up those tree branches and swing them around!

The gift of tools, and of fire-- the Divine Light--, set humanity apart from the very beginning of its rise to the present state of dominion over the planet. And ever since we took those fateful steps out of the trees and away from the ignorance of Eden, we've had a very problematic question driving us...
...Why are we different?

What is it about mankind that makes us so different and separate from the rest of our family of creatures and life on Earth? Are we special and chosen by "God", as we like to think, or are we the bastard child that's currently destroying his family in a fit of self-loathing? Why, Mother Gaia? Why are we so different and so lonely? Why are we the only ones who are so aware of ourselves? Why are we the ones to bare the gift or curse of tools and fire and Mind?

We wrestle with this dilemma all the time. Has technology set us free or entrapped us? When we settled down to farm the land rather than follow the roaming herds, were we set free from the rambling life in order to explore ourselves further, or did we become trapped and isolated from nature by our crops? When we forged vast civilizations with newer and newer technological advances and industrial practices, did we unleash our awesome power or have we retarded our peaceful symbiotic place amongst the planet itself? Does our fascination with the power of light-- from electricity to iPhones-- set us free to learn and communicate openly worldwide or does it trap us and isolate us from truly living in the real world around us?

These questions drive us and confound us because... we don't know the answer. Of course, mankind's path has always strayed along this knife's edge as we struggle with the duality and morality of self-awareness. Of free choice. Technology is just a tool, no matter how advanced. It is us who must decide how it is used. For creation or for destruction.

But have we truly been kicked out of Eden? Are we banished from the balanced ecological biosphere of Gaia, cursed to forever roam on our own without the intimate instinctual connection to the planet that our animal brothers and sisters share? ... Or perhaps is our solitary journey with purpose? Do we have a special destiny that we don't fully understand in our childlike ignorance just yet? Does Mother have a plan for us that we are just beginning to glimpse....

In trying to unravel the mysteries of Gaia, one might look to her most prolific and enduring children: the Plants. Organisms that resemble the steady, cyclical nature of the planet itself, plants follow a distinct cycle of life that may shed some light on our path for us. When a flower reaches its full maturity in the field, it comes to a point when its own beauty and growth alone is no longer enough. It changes. It begins to produce something special that will ensure the continuation of beauty and growth in general, long after the flower itself has decayed back unto the earth. It produces seeds.

These seeds contain the genetic makeup of the flower, the blueprint to beauty and the road-map to growth. The flower then erupts and sends these seeds out across the field, carried by the wind. They find new patches of fertile soil and take root, following their mother flower's encoded instructions. They spread across the field and new flowers grow that will continue the cycle on and on...

Indeed the organism that is the Earth would surely follow this same pattern, would it not? When the time was right, when her beauty and growth had reached its zenith, Gaia would surely cultivate seeds across her surface. These seeds would certainly contain all of the genetic information up to this point and these seeds would jettison out into the far reaches of the black field of space to find new pieces of soil to cultivate and blossom into replicas of Gaia! The diaspora across the universe would commence, to populate it with the same beauty and bounty our mother planet has known for a few billion years now!

Seeds...

Take into consideration that a human fetus goes through the entire spectrum of earthly evolution inside the womb before emerging into the light to grow as a human creature. We start as a single-cell organism and begin to divide and multiply into a more and more complicated organism. First an amphibious tadpole, then a reptilian alien, and finally a mammalian structure in the primate family. Finally toward the end, the traits and makeup of a human being. As the latest development of evolution on this planet, humanity's DNA contains the building blocks of all (animal) life on this planet.

Not only are we endowed by our Mother with all the information to rebuild and repopulate her, but we have the most sacred gift of all: The ability to separate and be independent from the Earth. That which is our source of confusion, outrage, loneliness, arrogance, and power... may just be our especially-encoded destiny.

I humbly submit that we, homo sapien sapiens... are Seeds.

We contain the genetic code and the intellectual understanding of how Gaia functions... and now we can look up to the stars to the vast field laying beyond and know that our destiny lies beyond this mortal coil. Beyond this humble rock. Beyond our beloved mother. We are the most sacred children of Gaia, for we have been spawned to take her legacy out into the stars...

Of course, we aren't quite ready yet. We haven't fully germinated. DNA isn't the only thing we'll need when the wind picks us up and carries us into the frontier of space. We, of course, must fully UNDERSTAND our mother and how to cultivate and preserve her life processes. We have stumbled away from these processes and taken control of ourselves independently of our mother. But that's just the beginning. The child that begins to learn of its own independence and its ability to rebel and say No! isn't quite ready to fully grasp this power. It must be guided and taught the wisdom necessary to make choices and act upon the world. Humanity is at this delicate stage.

We have unraveled our special power over nature and we're just beginning to understand our own nature. Before we can leave home, however, to fulfill our bright destiny in the Diaspora of Earth Children, we have to clean up the messes we've made during our growth. We have to prove ourselves worthy to be successful seeds. We have to understand this planet's delicate balance and learn to preserve it and cultivate it if we have any hope of terraforming other rocks.

We're getting there. Yes, we're different from our earthly brothers and sisters. This doesn't mean we need to mutilate them or commit them to genocide for the purposes of Bar-B-Q or fancy shoes. That's infantile and we're outgrowing it. It just means our sense of separation is only due to our very special legacy and destiny. We, unlike them, must leave home and grow the family. Not just humans. But the whole beautiful flower...

Technology and Mind are our shell encasings so that we, the seeds, can blast off for the stars and carry our Mother's beauty elsewhere. We shouldn't be afraid of our place in the family. Hell no, it's wonderful! We should celebrate our mother and our family! We should be ecstatic that we are the beloved children endowed with the greatest responsibility and gift that Mother has to give!

One final thought...
If our mother planet follows this very natural process of growing and diversifying and then forging seeds to be spread... is it not only logical to consider that she herself is the product of a similar diaspora from another beautiful flower across the vast expanse of space? Perhaps even as our own mother warmly bakes her precious seeds and prepares for the explosion of life that will extend her family across the stars, somewhere out there... across the field... is her own mother, warmly smiling at the success of her own seed as she wilts into the ever-spiraling cycle of life and death in the cosmos. Maybe we'll even visit our Grandmother someday...

It's worth some consideration anyway, no?
Cheers, brothers and sisters. :)