Sea of Faith Christchurch Group

In 2005, Jared Diamond wrote “Collapse” – showing how environmental mismanagement resulted in the collapse of past civilisations. The April 2008 issue of “New Scientist” reminds us of another set of factors that are at work: the increase of complexity which ultimately renders a culture unstable. The article is prophetic in the light of the recent turmoil in the world’s financial system.

Joseph Tainter, in his1988 book, “The Collapse of Complex Societies,” showed how each layer of complexity added to a culture inposes an additional cost in terms of energy – and the return for that additional investment is less. There is a law of diminishing returns which applies across the board. To keep growing, societies must continue solving problems. That means adding complexity. Finally, all its available resources are required just to maintain it. Then when a crisis arrives (Barbarians invade; climate changes), it cannot respond. A less complex society may emerge from the carnage. Or it may be taken over by another group.

Our culture has grown bigger and more complex than any other as it has exploited the energy sequestered over millions of years in the form of coal and oil. But diminishing returns are hitting here too, as more energy has to be used to mine them, and also to use them in a way that does not damage the environment.

The New England Complex Systems Institute has shown that this analysis generally holds true. More complex societies shift to networked organisation when a hierarchy with one individual at the top cannot cope with the increasing complexity. But the tight interlocking nature these networks develop in the interests of efficiency and profitability soon renders the complex society increasingly vulnerable to unforseen shocks. Tight networks transmit shocks rather than abosorbing them. They propagate the failure rapidly across the network. Electricity grids, global production systems, and most recently, the financial markets have all shown this characteristic.

Getting some reundancy back into the system is paramount. But private companies, focussed on maximising profits, tend to squeeze it all out. Space for partial healthy breakdown here and there has to be opened up. That needs governmental regulation. It needs the rebuilding of independent local infrastructure for food and energy supply, local markets, work, culture, and living. This amounts to a race between tipping points: which will come first: a race to a less tightly networked, sustainable technology, or collapse? The way it is now, an ever-faster rate of innovation is required to keep cities growing and prevent stagnation and collapse. In the long run, this cannot be sustained.

<p Thomas Homer-Dixon addresses these concerns in his 2006 book “The Upside of Down.” He observes that in biological systems, such as rain forests, increasing complexity is a very efficient system for remaining constant in the face of the normal range of conditions. But unusual conditions – insect outbreak, fire, or drought – can trigger dramatic changes as the impact cascades through the system. The end result might be the collapse of the old ecosystem, and its replacemenbt by a new, simpler one. Our globalised culture is subect to exactly the same threats. The trigger need not be all that dramatic.

What kind of a faith might guide us and sustain us as we move to such a radically new future? One that is non-hierarchical, non-doctrinal, but mystical, sensing the connectedness of all; one that ascribes spiritual value to the whole; where the mythology draws partly from indigenous traditions, but also from contemporary scientific insights. We need, as a species, to be awakened to the gravity of our situation, and encouraged in our attempts to deal with it urgently, but also quietly, calmly, and compassionately. – Ian Crumpton

Sylvia Edwards, who died recently, had been a member of the Christchurch Group of the Sea of Faith Network for many years – possibly since its inception. She drew strongly from the wellsprings of Christian faith, but her liberal and open minded approach to faith and – and indeed to people in general – meant that she was widely appreciated.

Sylvia had a great sense of style. Bright, alert and friendly, her positive ethos was an inspiration and stimulus to the group. But always in a discreet way.

Sylvia was not one to jump to her feet without thinking. Her contributions were always measured and thoughtful, and usually thought provoking as well. Her sensitivity and accepting nature meant that she had many friends in the group. We will miss her very much.  – Ian Crumpton.

At our next meeting, on Friday 10 October, Ian Crumpton will report to us on Dr Carolyn King’s talk to the annual conference. He comments as follows:

Dr Carolyn King was one of the three keynote speakers at the 2008 Sea of Faith (NZ) National Conference held in Blenheim in September. All three spoke to the conference’s theme: Is Gaia Tomorrow’s God? Dr King’s answer, in a word, was no!

Dr King is Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Biological Sciences and a research associate in the Dept of Philosophy at the University of Waikato. She is an active member of the Anglican Church. The strength of her presentation was a detailed explanation of the way living organisms moderate and stabilise conditions  on earth, providing a suitable habitat for all. This, in a nutshell, is the Gaia Theory. Since life began on earth over three billion years ago, the sun’s energy output has increased by about 20%, but evolving life has enabled the maintenance of a relatively steady temperature, as well as producing the volatile gas oxygen, enabling the evolution of more complex organisms.  Thus complex dynamic balances shape the earth’s lithosphere and ecosystems.  But Gaia is no benign goddess. She dispenses both life and death. The price we pay for our complexity and dependence on such a volatile gas as oxygen is mortality. We get sick. We die.

The Gaia Theory has three forms.
(1) The weak form: Earth is a complex entity.  Generally agreed .
(2) Strong form: Earth is a living entity – contested by many scientists.
(3) Extreme form: Life regulates the global environment to maintain
optimum conditions (this form imputes purpose). Rejected by most
scientists.

Dr King’s presentation made clear the dire consequences of the human induced global warming that is now gathering pace. She explained how temperature sets limits to life in the sea, and the importance of the Arctic and Antarctic seas which enable nutrient transfer. She explained the feedback mechanisms which could accelerate the warming process once triggered. And the learnings we are accumulating from study of the mass extinctions of the past.

In short, Gaia regulates all life, not just human life. This insight is more downgrading of humanity than evolution theory was. We are a tiny element in the biological/physical whole. And you can’t separate the biological from the physical. Dr King used the analogy of the termite nest to make this point.

Gaia is beginning to function as a myth in out time. A myth, in Loyal Rue’s definition, is “A story which tells how things are, and which things matter.”

Science: Knowlege without certainty.
Relgion: Certainty without knowlege.
The fallacy of misplaced correctness leads us to impute certainty to science and knowlege to religion.
A better way, in Dr King’s view, is to encourage the best of both good mythology and good science.”

The annual conference of the Sea of Faith in New Zealand was, as usual, inspiring and stimulating. It amazed me the way that the speakers approached the theme from different angles that wonderfully complemented each other.

Lloyd Geering portrayed the changes that have occurred in our picture of the world – the emergence of the ‘It-world,’ and the transition from polytheism to monotheism – and argued that we now have much in common with the ancients who called earth Gaia. What we need is a mystical re-union with the earth.

Carolyn King, a biologist and philosopher from the University of Waikato, analysed Gaia theory and put the current climate change into the wider context of geological time. She helped us understand why Lovelock is so pessimistic about the planet’s future.

Juliet Batten helped us to commune with Gaia, even taking us through a reflection or meditation in the course of her talk.

Craig Potton brought a prophetic challenge to political action, but integrated it with an amazing variety of quotations and references from religious traditions. In particular, he pointed out how good vegetarianism is for the planet.

Derek McCullough, minister of the Christchurch Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, also talked with us and explored how he and his community attempt to integrate ecological imperatives into their spiritual and religious understanding and practice.

This Friday 26 September, there is no meeting, because of the national conference over the same weekend.