The Human Ecosystem

The world would be a better place if we were to think of ourselves as ecosystems for the soul, rather than individual people.  


An ecosystem is a defined environment.  A pond, for instance, is a unique ecosystem.  It has a unique ecology with a very defined selection of plants, animals, insects.  It also has a unique flow of interconnected energy.  The fish that feed on the insects provide nutrients to the water and surrounding soil which nourish the plants that grow in the water's edge.  The animals that come to drink the water and eat the berries leave behind even more nutrients that keep the fauna alive.  The plants in turn feed the animals and enrich the atmosphere with clean oxygen.  There is a cycle that exists around a pond that exists no where else.  

The same can be said about a section of a desert, or a forest, or a deep ocean valley.  The same can also be said about the earth, and even about us.  For each ecosystem, there is an opening to the larger world and universe that surrounds it.  An input and an outlet into the greater world.  This lets in energy from the sun and provides a release for excess energy to escape.   Usually in the form of gases which the ecosystem exhales.


Ecosystems are not rigid.  They are porous.  They allow interaction with the world around them.  In fact, they thrive on it.  That interaction enables biodiversity, which enriches the basis for life and the chance for an ecosystem to not only survive, but to evolve and flourish.

Which makes me think that we are more of an ecosystem in which our soul lives, than independent beings.  We are not individuals, but a collection of independent cells and organelles that happen to coexist in order to stay alive.  The small mitochondria that power our cells act more like individual organisms than a mindless subsection of a cell.  They do what they do for their own benefit, not for the greater good of keeping you alive.  That is just a side benefit of their own struggle to survive.

Recently we have started to pay more attention to the assemblage of microorganisms  that include bacteria, fungi and single celled organisms that live in and on our bodies.  We call archaea, and without them we would quickly die. 

In the gut alone, there are an estimated 500 to 1000 species of bacteria.  Many of which aid in digestion and in maintaining the gut.  They also act as a first-line to the body's immune system.  That means we are in a symbiotic relationship with these organism. They die, we die.  They live, we live.  They flourish, we flourish.

My point in all of this is if we understand that our physical bodies not as independent persons, but as a collective of different organisms that have banded together for the greater good, then there is a chance that we may extend this view out to the society and ecosystem that we call earth.

If we can do that, then maybe, just maybe we will start to understand that cooperation really is the way of nature, that environmental stewardship is no different than our taking vitamin C to prevent a cold or flue.  That preserving the earth's ecosystem enables us to survive.  Just as preserving our own internal ecosystems enables our souls to survive.










Jeffrey Cannon
Simple Truth