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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.

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 AgeNew Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. This New Age movement is particularly concerned with spiritual exploration, holistic medicine, and mysticism, yet no rigid boundaries actually exist movement, with which they share the goal of deep spiritualSee: Spirituality Spiritual music The Age of Spiritual Machines Spiritual possession The Four Spiritual Laws. integration.

Political Gaians are a relatively recent offshoot of the ecology movementThe global ecology movement is one of several new social movements that supported the formation of Green Parties in many democratic countries beginning at the end of the 1970s. It is views on people, behaviors, events centered around the political and lif—and get their name from the Gaia hypothesis, a scientific theory first developed by James LovelockJames Ephraim Lovelock (born July 26, 1919), FRS, is an independent scientist, author, researcher and environmentalist who lives in Cornwall, in the west of England. He is most famous for proposing and popularizing the Gaia hypothesis, in which he postula.

This holds that the biosphere tends to homeorhetic balance or even homeostasisHomeostasis or homoeostasis is the property of an open system to regulate its internal environment so as to maintain a stable condition, by means of multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustments controlled by interrelated regulation mechanisms. The term was co 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 systemThe Earth immune system is a theoretical system, a possible consequence of the Gaia hypothesis. The Gaia hypothesis holds that the entire earth may be considered a single organism (Gaia). As a self-maintaining organism, Earth would naturally possesses an.

Activist Gaians are sometimes described as terristsTerrist (less commonly terraist is a neologism referring to environmentalists who engage in actions considered by some to be terrorism, including violent destruction of property as well as various types of nonviolent direct action. The word is a portmante 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.

See also: Gaia theory (science)

In the computer game Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, the Gaians are one of the seven factions the player can choose to control. Their philosophy in the game is similar to that described in this article.