# James Lovelock **Domain:** Earth Systems / Speculative Machine Evolution **Doc Type:** Person Node **Maturity:** Developing ## Definition **James Lovelock** proposed the “Novacene” as a possible age of rapidly thinking cyborgs that arise with human assistance. In his *BBC Science Focus* interview he imagines cooperation among humans, cyborgs, and the living Earth, rather than an adversarial takeover. His speed comparison is speculative. ## Relationships - **Interviewed by:** [*BBC Science Focus* about the Novacene](https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/james-lovelock-cyborgs-turning-100-and-the-come-age-of-the-novacene), including his prediction of future cyborg cognition and cooperative climate regulation. - **Proposed:** A possible branch of [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] in which humans participate in the emergence of new beings and continue to cooperate with them. - **Connects to:** [[wiki/Ecological Limits|Ecological Limits]] through his attention to planetary temperature and the interdependence of living systems. - **Collection and article routes:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]], [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]], and [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration Will Not Be Human]] distinguish his planetary prospect from other successor architectures. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “The Novacene will be inhabited by cyborgs who think and act roughly 10,000 times faster than we or other animals do.” > **— James Lovelock**, *BBC Science Focus interview on the Novacene* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Cyborgs Could Think Ten Thousand Times Faster by James Lovelock|Cyborgs Could Think Ten Thousand Times Faster by James Lovelock]] > “We are not merely a disease; we are, through our intelligence and communication, the nervous system of the planet.” > **— James Lovelock**, *“The Earth Is About to Catch a Morbid Fever,” The Independent, January 16, 2006* [[reminders/Human Animality/Humans Are the Nervous System of Earth by James Lovelock|Humans Are the Nervous System of Earth by James Lovelock]] > “Like it or not, the emergence of cyborgs cannot be envisaged without us humans playing a god-like – or parent-like – role.” > **— James Lovelock**, *BBC Science Focus interview on the Novacene, August 22, 2019* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Humans May Parent Their Cyborg Successors by James Lovelock|Humans May Parent Their Cyborg Successors by James Lovelock]]