The main idea behind the Gaia concept is that instead of the atmosphere just being this boring thing that we hear about it is the great aerial ocean that connects every living organism on the planet. It makes us think that we are a part of the natural world because we also are connected to it by our lungs, we are born into it and we die without it. As explained in the book, “Gaia as shorthand for the complex system that makes life possible, while recognizing all the while that it may result from chance”. (Flannery, P.18)