Gaia is the name that the ancients greeks give to the Godess of the Earth. This Godess exists with different names in many cultures (like the Pachamama of the cultures in the Andes). 

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Another view (that spawns from the perspective of GeneralSystemsTheory and stripped from any mythical sentiment) is that if self-organizing systems are living systems (see DefinitionOfLife), then, our whole planet could be seen and understand as a living organism. 

Perhaps this should be expanded in the GaiaHypothesis.

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'''Fryprose:'''

You're not to sure what CyberPunk is, eh? Well, to put it flatly, it is the future. For me time is a line, branching off in the myriad of ways only time can, and the road we choose determines our future. But we, as the whole of humanity, are heading down a spiralling path into the depths of Hell, dragging our planet and everything around us screaming into the abyss with us. Apathy on a global scale is killing us. If no one cares about the who has the power and all the cards, or that Gaia is suffocating, who will stop this maddening descent. When people wake up years from now and ask themselves, "What the hell happened?", the answer is that you didn't care enough. The world from the works of William Gibson and Bladerunner is becoming a stark reality. So maybe you're curious about this future, or maybe you're part of it today, or maybe...you want to change things, speak out, and stop our fall before it's too late. You've come to the right place, it's so very good to see you. 

''You put '''what''' in its birdseed?!?!?''

''Squawk!!''

http://greencheese.us/sonse29a.gif

It's not nice to fool Mother Gaia !

http://greencheese.us/sonse29b.gif

''Would anyone please explain to me what this strip is supposed to say?''

''[A Gaia-like sentient planet is explored in the later AsimovsFoundation books. -- fp]'' 

'''I slump gratified someone thought of a connection to CyberPunk...'''