Gaia living with AIDS: towards reconnecting humanity with ecosystem autopoiesis using metaphors of the immune system

Abstract

This paper looks at the dynamic interface between disease, environmental degradation, and human behaviour. It is argued that the role of the ecosystem in maintaining health on a planetary scale can be likened to an organism's immune system. However, humanity's mental and emotional disconnection from these autopoietic processes is a form of ecological autism which is detrimental to the health of humans and ecosystems alike. This ecological autism is resulting in human systems acting like an autoimmune disorder; so that GAIA is living with AIDS. It is suggested that employing metaphors of the immune system to aid understanding and empathy might ameliorate this by helping humanity to realize its embeddedness within nature and to recognize the consequences of its actions.