I have this wierd idea that our planet, itself, might be alive. Alive on a much slower timescale than we can imagine. Except that I've just imagined it.

The planet absorbs energy from the sun in all sorts of biological ways on it's surface. Over vast temporal periods the products of biological activity get absorbed into the surface of the planet and eventually, through tectonic plate subduction are absorbed into the core. This is not altogether different to plants absorbing the sun's energy in order to grow. So, with regard to climate change and all that, can an argument be made that using fossil fuels interferes with feeding the planet, itself, with the energy from the sun? A further extrapolation could be that the whole universe is alive. After all, we know that life can exist on the surface of our planet. Why can it not exist everywhere else?