2023/02/22

Biophilia hypothesis - Wikipedia

Biophilia hypothesis - Wikipedia

Biophilia hypothesis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The biophilia hypothesis (also called BET) suggests that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life. Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book, Biophilia (1984).[1] He defines biophilia as "the urge to affiliate with other forms of life".[2]

Natural affinity for living systems[edit]

"Biophilia" is an innate affinity of life or living systems. The term was first used by Erich Fromm to describe a psychological orientation of being attracted to all that is alive and vital.[3] Wilson uses the term in a related sense when he suggests that biophilia describes "the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life." He proposed the possibility that the deep affiliations humans have with other life forms and nature as a whole are rooted in our biology. Both positive and negative (including phobic) affiliations toward natural objects (species, phenomenon) as compared to artificial objects are evidence for biophilia.

Although named by Fromm, the concept of biophilia has been proposed and defined many times over. Aristotle was one of many to put forward a concept that could be summarized as "love of life". Diving into the term philia, or friendship, Aristotle evokes the idea of reciprocity and how friendships are beneficial to both parties in more than just one way, but especially in the way of happiness.[4]

The hypothesis has since been developed as part of theories of evolutionary psychology.[5] Taking on an evolutionary perspective people are drawn towards life and nature can be explained in part due to our evolutionary history of residing in natural environments, only recently in our history have we shifted towards an urbanized lifestyle.[5] These connections to nature can still be seen in people today as people gravitate towards, identify with, and desire to connect with nature.[6] These connections are not limited to any one component part of nature, in general people show connections to a wide range of natural things including plants, animals, and environmental landscapes.[7] One possible explanation is that our ancestors who had stronger connections to nature would hold an evolutionary advantage over less connected people as they would have better knowledge and therefor access to food, water, and shelter. In a broader and more general sense research has suggested that our modern urban environments are not suited for minds that evolved in natural environments.[8]

Human preferences toward things in nature, while refined through experience and culture, are hypothetically the product of biological evolution. For example, adult mammals (especially humans) are generally attracted to baby mammal faces and find them appealing across species. The large eyes and small features of any young mammal face are far more appealing than those of the mature adults. Similarly, the hypothesis helps explain why[9] ordinary people care for and sometimes risk their lives to save domestic and wild animals, and keep plants and flowers in and around their homes. In the book Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations edited by Peter Kahn and Stephen Kellert,[10] the importance of animals, especially those with which a child can develop a nurturing relationship, is emphasized particularly for early and middle childhood. Chapter 7 of the same book reports on the help that animals can provide to children with autistic-spectrum disorders.[11]

Biophilic design[edit]

Main article: Biophilic design

In architecture, biophilic design is a sustainable design strategy that incorporates reconnecting people with the natural environment.[12] It may be seen as a necessary complement to green architecture, which decreases the environmental impact of the built world but does not address human reconnection with the natural world.[13]

Caperna and Serafini[14] define biophilic design as that kind of architecture, which is able to supply our inborn need of connection to life and to the vital processes. Biophilic space has been defined as the environment that strengthens life and supports the sociological and psychological components.[15][16] These spaces can have positive health effects on people including reducing mental health issues in stressful spaces such as prisons,[17] reducing chronic pain,[18] improving memory, and lowering blood pressure.[19] Examples of this being studied in medical settings include having a window looking out to see living plants is also shown to help speed up the healing process of patients in hospitals.[20] Similarly, having plants in the same room as patients in hospitals also speeds up their healing process.[21]

Biophilia and conservation[edit]

Because of our technological advancements and more time spent inside buildings and cars disconnects us from nature, biophilic activities and time spent in nature may be strengthening our connections as humans to nature, so people continue to have strong urges to reconnect with nature. The concern for a lack of connection with the rest of nature outside of us, is that a stronger disregard for other plants, animals and less appealing wild areas could lead to further ecosystem degradation and species loss. Therefore, reestablishing a connection with nature has become more important in the field of conservation.[22][23][24] Examples would be more available green spaces in and around cities, more classes that revolve around nature and implementing smart design for greener cities that integrate ecosystems into them such as biophilic cities. These cities can also become part of wildlife corridors to help with migrational and territorial needs of other animals.[25]

Biophilia in fiction[edit]

Canadian author Hilary Scharper explicitly adapted E.O. Wilson's concept of biophilia for her ecogothic novel, Perdita.[26] In the novel, Perdita (meaning "the lost one") is a mythological figure who brings biophilia to humanity.

Biophilia and technology[edit]

American philosopher Francis Sanzaro has put forth the claim that because of advances in technological connectivity, especially the internet of things (IOT), our world is becoming increasingly driven by the biophilia hypothesis, namely, the desire to connect to forms of life.[27] Sanzaro applies Wilson's theories to trends in artificial intelligence and psychoanalysis and argues that technology is not an antithesis to nature, but simply another form of seeking intimacy with nature.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Wilson, Edward O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-07442-4.
  2. ^ Kellert & Wilson 1995, p. 416.
  3. ^ Fromm, Erich (1964). The Heart of Man. Harper & Row.
  4. ^ Santas, Aristotelis. "Aristotelian Ethics And Biophilia." Ethics & The Environment 19.1 (2014): 95-121. https://www.academia.edu/13211214/Aristotelian_Ethics_and_Biophilia
  5. ^ Jump up to:a b The Biophilia hypothesis. Stephen R. Kellert, Edward O. Wilson. Washington, D.C. 1993. ISBN 1-55963-148-1. OCLC 28181961.
  6. ^ Riechers, Maraja; Martín-López, Berta; Fischer, Joern (2022). "Human–nature connectedness and other relational values are negatively affected by landscape simplification: insights from Lower Saxony, Germany". Sustainability Science. 17 (3): 865–877. doi:10.1007/s11625-021-00928-9. ISSN 1862-4065. S2CID 233187431.
  7. ^ Frumkin, Howard (2001). "Beyond toxicity: human health and the natural environment". American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 20 (3): 234–240. doi:10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00317-2. PMID 11275453.
  8. ^ Buss, David M. (2000). "The evolution of happiness". American Psychologist. 55 (1): 15–23. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.15. ISSN 1935-990X. PMID 11392858.
  9. ^ "Affiliate Program". 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  10. ^ Kahn, Peter; Kellert, Stephen (2002). Children and nature: psychological, sociocultural, and evolutionary investigations. MIT Press. p. 153. ISBN 0-262-11267-1.
  11. ^ Katcher, Aaron (2002). "Animals in Therapeutic Education: Guides into the Liminal State". In Kahn, Peter H.; Kellert, Stephen R (eds.). Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-11267-1. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  12. ^ Söderlund, Jana; Newman, Peter; Söderlund, Jana; Newman, Peter (2015). "Biophilic architecture: a review of the rationale and outcomes". AIMS Environmental Science. 2 (4): 950–969. doi:10.3934/environsci.2015.4.950. ISSN 2372-0352.
  13. ^ "Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life". www.stephenrkellert.net. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  14. ^ Caperna A., Serafini S. (2015). Biourbanism as new epistemological perspective between Science, Design and Nature. In Architecture & Sustainability: Critical Perspectives. "Generating sustainability concepts from an architectural perspective", KU Leuven - Faculty of Engineering, Belgium). ISBN 9789462920880
  15. ^ Caperna, A., Tracada, E. (2012). Biourbanism for a Healthy City. Biophilia and sustainable urban theories and practices. Bannari Amman Institute of Technology (BIT), Sathyamangalam, India, 3–5 September 2012
  16. ^ Joye, Yannick (2007). "Architectural Lessons from Environmental Psychology: The Case of Biophilic Architecture". Review of General Psychology. 11 (4): 305–328. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.11.4.305. ISSN 1089-2680. S2CID 14485090.
  17. ^ Söderlund, Jana; Newman, Peter (2017). "Improving Mental Health in Prisons Through Biophilic Design". The Prison Journal. 97 (6): 750–772. doi:10.1177/0032885517734516. ISSN 0032-8855. S2CID 149435309.
  18. ^ Huntsman, Dorothy Day; Bulaj, Grzegorz (2022-02-16). "Healthy Dwelling: Design of Biophilic Interior Environments Fostering Self-Care Practices for People Living with Migraines, Chronic Pain, and Depression". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19 (4): 2248. doi:10.3390/ijerph19042248. ISSN 1660-4601. PMC 8871637. PMID 35206441.
  19. ^ Yin, Jie; Zhu, Shihao; MacNaughton, Piers; Allen, Joseph G.; Spengler, John D. (2018). "Physiological and cognitive performance of exposure to biophilic indoor environment". Building and Environment. 132: 255–262. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.01.006.
  20. ^ Windows looking out to plants helping the healing process
  21. ^ Park, SH; Mattson, RH (2009). "Ornamental indoor plants in hospital rooms enhanced health outcomes of patients recovering from surgery". J Altern Complement Med. 15 (9): 975–80. doi:10.1089/acm.2009.0075. PMID 19715461.
  22. ^ Miller, James R. (1 August 2005). "Biodiversity conservation and the extinction of experience". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 20 (8): 430–434. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2005.05.013. ISSN 0169-5347. PMID 16701413.
  23. ^ Rogers, Kara. "Biophilia Hypothesis". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 10 Feb 2015.
  24. ^ Milstein, T. & Castro-Sotomayor, J. (2020). Routledge Handbook of Ecocultural Identity. London, UK: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351068840
  25. ^ "Biophilic Cities". Biophilic Cities. Retrieved 10 Mar 2015.
  26. ^ "Arousing Biophilia". arts.envirolink.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  27. ^ See Sanzaro's extended treatment of how algorithms are helping fuel techno-biophilia, "Society Elsewhere: Why the Gravest Threat to Humanity Will Come From Within."

External links[edit]

Wikiversity has learning resources about Human-animal bond
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Ecopsychology - Wikipedia

Ecopsychology - Wikipedia

Ecopsychology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ecopsychology is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field that focuses on the synthesis of ecology and psychology and the promotion of sustainability.[1][2][3] It is distinguished from conventional psychology as it focuses on studying the emotional bond between humans and the Earth.[2][4] Instead of examining personal pain solely in the context of individual or family pathology, it is analyzed in its wider connection to the more than human world.[5] A central premise is that while the mind is shaped by the modern world, its underlying structure was created in a natural non-human environment.[6] Ecopsychology seeks to expand and remedy the emotional connection between humans and nature, treating people psychologically by bringing them spiritually closer to nature.[3]

History[edit]

Origins of ecopsychology[edit]

Sigmund Freud[edit]

In his 1929 book Civilization and Its Discontents ("Das Unbehagen in der Kultur"), Sigmund Freud discussed the basic tensions between civilization and the individual.[7] He recognized the interconnection between the internal world of the mind and the external world of the environment, stating:[7][page needed]

Our present ego-feeling is, therefore, only a shrunken residue of a much more inclusive—indeed, an all-embracing—feeling which corresponded to a more intimate bond between the ego and the world about it.

Robert Greenway[edit]

Influenced by the philosophies of noted ecologists Walles T. Edmondson and Loren Eiseley, Robert Greenway began researching and developing a concept that he described as "a marriage" between psychology and ecology in the early 1960s.[8][9] He theorized that "the mind is nature, and nature, the mind," and called its study psychoecology.[citation needed] Greenway published his first essay on the topic at Brandeis University in 1963.[8][10]

In 1969, he began teaching the subject at Sonoma State University.[10] One of Greenway's students founded a psychoecology study group at University of California, Berkeley, which was joined by Theodore Roszak in the 1990s.[8][10]

In the 1995 book Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind, Greenway wrote:[8][page needed]

Ecopsychology is a search for language to describe the human-nature relationship. It is a tool for better understanding the relationship, for diagnosing what is wrong with that relationship, and for suggesting paths to healing.

Theodore Roszak[edit]

Theodore Roszak is credited with coining the term "ecopsychology" in his 1992 book The Voice of the Earth, although a group of psychologists and environmentalists, including Mary Gomes and Allen Kanner, were independently using the term at the same time. Roszak, Gomes and Kanner later expanded the idea in the 1995 anthology Ecopsychology. Two other books were especially formative, Paul Shepard's 1982 volume, Nature and Madness, which explored the effect that our diminishing engagement with nature had upon psychological development, and David Abram's 1996 The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World. The latter was one of the first books to bring phenomenology fully to bear on ecological issues, looking closely at the cosmo-vision (or the traditional ecological knowledge systems) of diverse indigenous, oral cultures, and analyzing the curious effect that the advent of formal writing systems, like the phonetic alphabet, has had upon the human experience of the more-than-human natural world.[11][12] Roszak mentions the biophilia hypothesis of biologist E.O. Wilson; that humans have an instinct to emotionally connect with nature.[4][13]

Beliefs[edit]

Roszak states that an individual's connection to nature can improve their interpersonal relationships and emotional wellbeing.[citation needed] An integral part of this practice is treating patients outdoors.[4] According to ecopsychology, humans are meant to take walks in parks.[citation needed] It considers the psyche of non-humans to be relevant.[clarification needed] It examines why people continue environmentally damaging behaviour, and motivates them to adopt sustainability.[4][7][8][10]

Fundamental principles[edit]

According to Roszak, some of the principles of ecopsychology are:[14][page needed]

  • "There is a synergistic interplay between planetary and personal well-being."
  • "The core of the mind is the ecological unconscious."
  • "The goal of ecopsychology is to awaken the inherent sense of environmental reciprocity that lies within the ecological unconscious."
  • "The contents of the ecological unconscious represent ... the living record of evolution."
  • "The crucial stage of development is the life of the child."
  • "The ecological ego matures toward a sense of ethical responsibility with the planet."
  • "Whatever contributes to small scale social forms and personal empowerment nourish the ecological ego."

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Fisher, Andy (2012). Radical ecopsychology: Psychology in the service of life. New York: Albany State University of New York Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0791453049.
  2. ^ Jump up to:a b Roszak, Theodore (1992). Voice of the earth - an exploration of ecopsychology. Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press. ISBN 1890482803.
  3. ^ Jump up to:a b Anderson, G. "About eco-psychology".
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Roszack, Theodore (1 January 1996). "The nature of sanity". Psychology Today. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  5. ^ Conn, Sarah A. (August 16, 2010). "Living in the earth: Ecopsychology, health and psychotherapy". The Humanistic Psychologist. 26 (1–3): 179–198. doi:10.1080/08873267.1998.9976972. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  6. ^ Roszak, Theodore (1995). "A new therapy [Letter to the editor]". BioScience. 45 (1): 3. doi:10.2307/1312526. JSTOR 1312526.
  7. ^ Jump up to:a b c Freud, Sigmund (1929). "Civilization And Its Discontents" (PDF). Narcissistic Abuse Rehab. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-10-12. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Greenway, Robert (1995). "The Wilderness Effect and Ecopsychology" (PDF). Narcissistic Abuse Rehab. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-10-12. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  9. ^ Liebert, Mary Ann (March 2009). "Robert Greenway: The Ecopsychology Interview". Ecopsychology. 1: 47–52. doi:10.1089/eco.2009.0008. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  10. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Attfield, Nicci (February 7, 2021). "What is Ecopsychology?". Mindsplain. Archived from the original on 2021-02-07. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  11. ^ Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World. Pantheon, New York, 1996.
  12. ^ Vakoch, Douglas; Castrillón, Fernando, eds. (2014). Ecopsychology, Phenomenology, and the Environment: The Experience of Nature. New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9781461496182.
  13. ^ Wilson, E. O. (1995). The Biophilia Hypothesis. Island Press.
  14. ^ Roszak, Theodore; Gomes, Mary E., eds. (1995). Ecopsychology: Restoring the earth, healing the mind. USA: Counterpoint. ISBN 0871564068.

Further reading[edit]

  • M. Day. "Ecopsychology and the Restoration of Home". 1998. The Humanistic Psychologist. Vol. 26. Issue 1-3.
  • T. Roszak. The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology. 1993 Touchstone, New York.
  • T. Roszak, M.E. Gomes, A.D. Kanner (Eds). Ecopsychology, restoring the earth healing the mind. 1995 Sierra Club Books, San Francisco.
  • Renée G. Soule, "Ecopsychology" in Nigel Young (editor) The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace. 2010, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
  • A. Fisher. Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service of Life. 2013 Suny Press, Albany.
  • J. Phoenix Smith, "Ecopsychology: Toward a New Story of Cultural and Racial Diversity" 2013. Journal of Ecopsychology.Vol. 5. No.4.

External links[edit]



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