“In the 1970s, Russian chemist, Ilya Prigogine, won the Nobel Prize for his description of the connection among evolution, organic chemistry, thermodynamics, and “dissipative structures,” living or non-living systems that transform energy. The larger meta-system, Prigogine concluded, does not sustain species, but rather sustains relationships. Everything co-evolves, and no part of the system can “manage” or “control” the myriad layers of embedded systems and sub-systems. “Sustainability” in ecology is “dynamic equilibrium,” a system of sub-systems that maintains regenerative patterns through feedback mechanisms.”
— Rex Weyler at GreenPeace. Gaia: everything on Earth is connected