Saving Ourselves to Save the Earth

Re-evolutionizing Education for a Sustainable Future: Remembering Gaia

Keep in mind that it is hubris to think that we know how to save the Earth: our planet looks after itself. All we can do is try to save ourselves.”
― James Lovelock

As we continue to harm the natural balance of our planet, it has become increasingly clear that we must re-think our approach to education, what it means to be a leader and what success looks like. The contemporary traditional education system, which focuses on academic knowledge and technical skills, has failed to equip us with the tools and understanding necessary to address the complex challenges we face today. Therefore, we need to look to the wisdom of the ages and rebuild an education system that is rooted in the principle of Gaia.

The Gaia Hypothesis, named after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth, suggests that the Earth is a self-regulating system that maintains a balance between its living and non-living components. This means that all living beings, including humans, are interconnected and dependent on each other and the planet. The Gaia principle highlights the importance of understanding and respecting these connections to create a sustainable future.

James Lovelock, a chemist, and Lynn Margulis, a microbiologist, developed the Gaia hypothesis in the 1970s.

For millennia, traditional peoples all over the world have believed in an Earth mother who bestows life and receives the dead into her rich soil. The ancient Greeks called her Gaia, the earthly presence of anima mundi , the vast and mysterious primordial intelligence that steadily gives birth to all that exists, the great nourishing subjectivity— at once both spiritual and material— that sustains all that is. —Stephen Harding in Animate Earth: Science Intuition and Gaia, p. 46.

At the core of this educational approach is the need to develop a deep understanding of the interdependence of all things. This means recognizing that our actions have consequences not only for ourselves but for the entire planet. It also involves learning to think critically and creatively about how we can live in harmony with the natural world, rather than continuing to exploit and destroy it.

One crucial aspect of this education is the development of practical skills essential for survival in a changing world. This includes skills such as growing food, building shelter, and living sustainably off the land. It also entails learning how to repair and maintain the tools and technologies we depend on, rather than consuming and discarding them.

As someone who has recently moved from the United States to Canada, I find it fascinating to see how different educational practices can be across countries, states, provinces and time. The need for integrative and multidimensional practices to reach a diverse range of students within higher education has been present even before the United States was founded, as suggested by Parker Palmer in 2010. Such correspondence can be found in Andrew Carroll's Letters of a Nation (1999). In treaty negotiations between officials from Maryland, Virginia and the Indians of Six Nations, the tribal elders declined the offer to send twelve of their young men to the College of William and Mary:

Sirs, We know that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in Colleges, and that the Maintenance of our young Men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinc’d, therefore, that you mean to do us Good by your Proposal; and we thank you heartily. But you, who are wise must know that different Nations have different Conceptions of things and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our Ideas of this kind of Education happen not to be the same with yours. We have had some Experience of it. Several of our young People were formerly brought up at the Colleges of the Northern Provinces: they were instructed in all your Sciences; but, when they came back to us, they were bad Runners, ignorant of every means of living in the Woods unable to bear either Cold or Hunger, knew neither how to build a Cabin, take a Deer, or kill an Enemy, spoke our language imperfectly, were therefore neither fit for Hunters, Warriors, nor Counselors; they were totally good for nothing. We are, however, not the less obig’d by your kind Offer, tho’ we decline accepting it; and, to show our grateful Sense of it, if the Gentlemen of Virginia will send us a Dozen of their Sons, we will take Care of their Education, instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them. (Carroll, 1999, p. 240)

The letter, which was written in 1774, poses a question that remains relevant to this day: are we preparing our students with the necessary skills to become leaders in their local communities, not just in the world at large, but on the planet as a whole? While we often emphasize the importance of cross-cultural competencies and the changing global landscape, we must not overlook the significance of being able to lead in our own neighborhoods and families. The wisdom of the Six Nations tribal elders from centuries ago still rings true today - there is a gap between what is taught in higher education and what is truly necessary. Hopefully, we can also evolve to a point where we no longer have to resort to violence against our enemies.

For years, we have measured student success primarily in terms of grade point averages and timely graduation rates. However, we must realize that emotional intelligence is just as crucial, if not more important than intellect. Therefore, we should question whether we are focusing on the right criteria when it comes to measuring student success. Furthermore, shouldn't we prioritize our survival as a species as the ultimate marker of success?

The re-education necessary for the survival of our species should prioritize the long-term health of the planet and the well-being of all its inhabitants. This kind of learning should stress interconnectedness, practical skills, and empathy, and acknowledge the urgency of the challenges we face, especially in regards to how we treat ourselves and others. It requires us to recognize ourselves as part of the whole. By striving for our own preservation and wholeness, we can create a sustainable future for ourselves and the coming generations by offering the unique and sacred gifts we have to share.

In honor of the magnificence of Mother Earth and the ocean, here's a little prayerful musical delight from Deva Premal & Miten: