Gaia hypothesis

American  

[gey-uh hahy-poth-uh-sis, hi-poth‐] / ˈgeɪ ə haɪˌpɒθ ə sɪs, hɪˌpɒθ‐ /

noun

1. a theory advancing the notion that life on earth is perpetuated by the interaction of organisms with their inorganic environment, a process maintained by the earth’s self-regulation of its own material conditions and requirements.

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Gaia hypothesis British  

/ ˈɡaɪə /

noun

1. the theory that the earth and everything on it constitutes a single self-regulating living entity

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Etymology

Origin of Gaia hypothesis

Coined in 1975 by British environmentalist and futurist James E. Lovelock (1919–2022); see origin at Gaia ( def. 2 )

Example Sentences

The term was meant to evoke the Gaia hypothesis, the Medea hypothesis being somewhat of an opposite.

From Salon • Dec. 19, 2022

The Gaia hypothesis, named after a “Mother Earth” deity from Greek mythology, puts forward the idea that life is self-regulating.

From Scientific American • Oct. 28, 2022

The Gaia hypothesis, first proposed in the 1970s, saw the Earth itself as a complex, self-regulating system that created and maintained the conditions for life on the planet.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 27, 2022

Much of her thinking chimes not only with the Gaia hypothesis but with ideas that feed into Afrofuturism, recently popularized in the movie “Black Panther.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 7, 2021

They began to study new models of interconnectivity and group mind, such as James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis and Rupert Sheldrakes theory of morphogenesis, to explain and confirm their growing sense of non-local community.

From Open Source Democracy by Rushkoff, Douglas