89
DOI: 10.1201/9780429440939-9
8
Healing Our Relationship
with Gaia through a New
Thrivability Paradigm
Anneloes Smitsman
EARTHwise Centre
Jude Currivan
WholeWorld-View
INTRODUCTION
Our worsening climate crisis, biodiversity loss and increasing societal challenges are all clear indicators that it is time for us to wise up and grow up. It is essential that we become conscious that the
growth models that we have adopted for, and which shape, our developmental trajectories are not
only unsustainable, but also imminently catastrophic. The resounding calls for a new paradigm with
new norms are accelerating in strength around the world, even more so in the light of our current –
at the time of writing – coronavirus crisis. However, underlying each paradigm is a growth model,
and unless this model is also transformed, the shift in paradigms will be limited and not generate
new patterns for our collective thrivability.
The pursuit of growth in the economic domains has typically taken place via policies that only
measure the quantitative aspects of growth, leading to extractive and unsustainable practices. In
response, calls for degrowth are becoming more widely heard from sustainability movements. What
is often missing in the discussion, however, is a deeper evaluation of what we mean by growth.
Our usage of the word growth goes beyond the narrow conventional meaning that indicates an
increase in size or quantity. We propose to emphasise the qualitative aspects of growth that are
also developmental, as can be seen in the growth dynamics of living systems. Such growth often
results in asymmetry, owing to structural changes between the variables that result from the new
growth, which can temporarily perturb the balance of the system. Living systems are responsive,
and it is precisely this shift in systemic balance due to growth changes that activates its learning
and development. Living systems respond to emerging asymmetries through the formation of new
organisational dynamics that enable the system to regulate and adjust to the changes. The formation
of new balancing loops and informational flows is a process of systemic learning and development.
CONTENTS
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 89
The Cost of Conventional Progress ..................................................................................................90
Comparing Indigenous and Mechanistic Worldviews ..................................................................... 91
What We Can Learn from the Infodynamics of Healthy Living Systems .......................................92
Farming of Tomorrow ...................................................................................................................... 95
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................... 95
References ........................................................................................................................................ 95
DOI: 10.1201/9780429440939-9
8
Healing Our Relationship
with Gaia through a New
Thrivability Paradigm
Anneloes Smitsman
EARTHwise Centre
Jude Currivan
WholeWorld-View
INTRODUCTION
Our worsening climate crisis, biodiversity loss and increasing societal challenges are all clear indicators that it is time for us to wise up and grow up. It is essential that we become conscious that the
growth models that we have adopted for, and which shape, our developmental trajectories are not
only unsustainable, but also imminently catastrophic. The resounding calls for a new paradigm with
new norms are accelerating in strength around the world, even more so in the light of our current –
at the time of writing – coronavirus crisis. However, underlying each paradigm is a growth model,
and unless this model is also transformed, the shift in paradigms will be limited and not generate
new patterns for our collective thrivability.
The pursuit of growth in the economic domains has typically taken place via policies that only
measure the quantitative aspects of growth, leading to extractive and unsustainable practices. In
response, calls for degrowth are becoming more widely heard from sustainability movements. What
is often missing in the discussion, however, is a deeper evaluation of what we mean by growth.
Our usage of the word growth goes beyond the narrow conventional meaning that indicates an
increase in size or quantity. We propose to emphasise the qualitative aspects of growth that are
also developmental, as can be seen in the growth dynamics of living systems. Such growth often
results in asymmetry, owing to structural changes between the variables that result from the new
growth, which can temporarily perturb the balance of the system. Living systems are responsive,
and it is precisely this shift in systemic balance due to growth changes that activates its learning
and development. Living systems respond to emerging asymmetries through the formation of new
organisational dynamics that enable the system to regulate and adjust to the changes. The formation
of new balancing loops and informational flows is a process of systemic learning and development.
CONTENTS
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 89
The Cost of Conventional Progress ..................................................................................................90
Comparing Indigenous and Mechanistic Worldviews ..................................................................... 91
What We Can Learn from the Infodynamics of Healthy Living Systems .......................................92
Farming of Tomorrow ...................................................................................................................... 95
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................... 95
References ........................................................................................................................................ 95