The collective activity of life, called the biosphere, can change the planet. For instance, plants produce oxygen as a by-product that changes the function of Earth as it allows for life to thrive. But can the collective activity of cognition and action base on this cognition also change Earth?
Phys.org reported that a team of astrophysicists thought of combining the scientific understanding of the planet and the possibility of it being conscious or having a mind of its own in their "thought experiment," which raises new ideas on tackling global issues, such as climate change.
Using Planetary Intelligence for the Greater Good of the Planet
In their paper, titled "Intelligence as a Planetary Scale Process," published in the International Journal of Astrobiology, researchers discussed planetary intelligence or the idea that cognitive activity operates on a planetary scale. Researchers wrote that a mature technosphere needs to integrate technological systems with Earth through a network of complex systems.
That involves anything built from smaller parts that interact in a fashion that the system's overall behavior is dependent on their interaction. Examples of these systems are forests, the internet, the financial market, and the human brain. However, the personality of complex systems is difficult to discern or predict what properties might emerge from a planetary intelligence.
On the other hand, researchers said that complex systems have two defining characteristics: emergent behavior and the need to be self-maintaining. They pointed out that the biosphere has learned to host life billions of years ago, but humans now have to figure out how to have the same kind of self-maintaining characteristics.
Achieving a Mature Technosphere
According to Science Daily, researchers posit four stages of the past and future of Earth to illustrate how planetary intelligence might play a role in the planet's future.
The first stage is having an immature biosphere, wherein early Earth hosts microbes, but vegetation has yet to come about. At this stage, life could not exert forces yet on the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and other planetary systems.
For the second stage, the Earth already has a mature biosphere before technological advances. Stable continents have already formed at this time, and vegetation and photosynthesis contributed to the build-up of oxygen in the atmosphere. The ozone layer has also emerged as the biosphere exerts a strong effort to maintain Earth's habitability.
On its third stage, an immature technosphere has emerged. Interlinked communication systems, transportation, technology, computers, and electricity have emerged. The technosphere draws energy and matter from these systems in ways that will drive the whole into a new state even though it is unlikely to be included.
Lastly, a mature technosphere emerges when technological systems are in place that benefits the entire planet, especially those that do not harm the biosphere. The mature technosphere has co-evolved with the biosphere, allowing both to thrive.
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