Myth: The balance of nature exists and dominates all life and all environments

Balance of Nature

The false belief that nature, when undisturbed by humans, achieves and maintains a fixed, permanent, self-maintaining condition.

Carrying Capacity

The theoretical population size where birth rate equals death rate; the population size an environment can supposedly support indefinitely.

Homeostasis

The ability of a system to maintain internal stability by adjusting to external changes; returning to the same state after disturbance.

Logistic Growth Curve

An S-shaped mathematical curve that supposedly describes population growth but has never accurately predicted real populations.

Mechanical Stability

The type of stability shown by buildings and machines, having an equilibrium position and returning to it when disturbed.

Persistence

The author's preferred term for how nature maintains itself through constant change rather than balance.

Lathostasis

The author's coined term describing nature's paradoxical stability through constant change.

Tipping Point

The critical threshold where a stable system suddenly shifts to a different state; applies only to systems with mechanical stability.