What is the noosphere? Planetary superorganism, major evolutionary transition and emergence

Abstract

The noosphere remains an underappreciated and understudied idea despite that it provides unique hope towards a positive and meaningful global integration. A core reason for this lack of attention is that its very definition is often unclear both in the West with Teilhard de Chardin and in the East with Vernadsky. I show how Living Systems Theory can clarify two fundamental meanings: the noosphere as a planetary superorganism and the noosphere as a sphere of mind, storing, processing and spreading information. I also present two key aspects to better grasp the concept: the noosphere as a planetary major evolutionary transition and the noosphere as the emergence of something radically new, which might include a planetary consciousness, or a planet seeking to find or contact other noospheres.