Re: You seem to have missed the point
You (and I in my responses) are perhaps making too much of a notion I threw out initially in a fanciful and metaphorical spirit. As to past responses of the earth's hypothetical immune system, the argument could be advanced that the impact of humanity upon the larger biosphere has only just registered.
what we consider horrendously unacceptable casualty levels would not come close to wiping us off of the face of the Earth
Probably not, if no worse than the 1918-19 pandemic. Even if substantially worse, would probably leave enough of us (I have no use for "diversity" as a socio-political concept, but it would certainly come in handy here as a genetic fact of life) to keep the species going, but might briefly put paid to the more cancerous side effects of technological civilization.
Why do you specifically recommend that popularization [Dennett] on the topic? --For his discussions of the adaptive responses of organisms within the practical dimensions of "design space." And Dennett, one of the extraordinary thinkers of our age, should not be lumped in with the "popularizers."
But--just so we understand each other--I don't propose that the Gaia hypothesis be extended beyond the basic notion of global homeostasis I gather we both agree upon, although I find some of the more ambitious speculations tempting.
cordially,
