DEEP ECOLOGY, n. A marginal current in the environmental movement which draws its name from the cliche, "deep as a pie plate." "Deep" ecology ignores social, political, and economic causes of environmental problems and posits that human beings as such - never mind who they are or what they're doing - are the cause of all ecological problems, thus, "deep" ecologists have publicly welcomed the AIDS epidemic, and have posited that human beings are no more important, and somewhat less desireable, than tapeworms and syphilis bacteria. The most convincing evidence to support this belief is, unsurprisingly, provided by the "deep" ecologists themselves.