2.2.1 BIOPHILIA

In Biophilia, Edward O. Wilson defines the term biophilia as “the innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes”. 24 He then exemplifies this by recounting his experiences as a field biologist in places such as Bernhardsdorp, South America, and New Guinea, where he went to study ants, and explains, in detail, his encounters of the natural environment and all of the organisms he came across, along with their place and importance within the systems of life. 25 As Wilson is a biologist, his view on biophilia comes from that of a scientist’s perspective more than a design perspective, so he equates biophilia to something focused on “life”, which he implies is the world and its inhabitants around us, and believes that experiencing and learning about the living world is essential to understanding and valuing other organisms and ourselves. 26 He stresses the importance of the human connection to nature but acknowledges there is a divide between the cultures of science and humanity that is problematic and must be resolved. 27 In the same turn, Wilson also compares science to the arts. He explains that it differs in intention, with that of science being to show how or why an effect is produced and with that of art being actual production. He recognizes the similarities between the two as well, stating that they are both means of discovery and metaphor or analogy, and they both have human origins. 28 The book then digs deeper into the implications of biophilia, with the example of the innate human fear and awe of the snake. Wilson describes that this is a result of our need as humans to master and overlearn things we fear, and the fear results from human nature and the evolution of the human brain, which recognizes snakes as dangerous and something to be feared. 29 Additionally, he describes the role that evolution plays in habitat selection, explaining that the earliest humans lived in grasslands and suggesting that the human body and mind are predisposed to and drawn to life on the savanna, as a result of these early relationships with this environment. 30 Summarizing all of these points, Wilson states that the human mind is drawn toward nature due to its evolutionary history and that we are all human because of the way we affiliate with other organisms. He concludes that, to sustain human’s tendency for freedom and expansion, there need also be stewardship, conservation, and connection to the natural world in order for ultimate survival. 31