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The Biophilia Hypothesis

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The word biophilia comes from two ancient Greek words; Bios which means life, and Philia which means love. Biophilia literally means “love of life or living systems”. The German psychologist Erich Fromm was the first to use the notion of biophilia to describe the human tendency to connect with nature (Fromm, 1964). With the publication of his book (Biophilia) in 1984, the biologist Edward Wilson brought widespread attention to the concept of biophilia. Wilson argues that the human attraction to nature environments and processes is rooted in our biology (Wilson, 1984). In their book (The Biophilia Hypothesis) Stephen Kellert and Wilson investigated the notion of biophilia in a scientific way, they presented their hypothesis and examined the …show more content…

He argues that the physical environment where early humans lived contained several sources of threats which put them in a negatively toned emotional state that helped them to take immediate responses. Such responses were vital for their survival but in the same time they lead to physical and psychological stress. Since early humans’ survival depended on their physical energy, focus and attention to potential threats, they needed restoration from stress as soon as the source of threat disappear. According to Ulrich unthreatening natural settings provided a good source of restoration from stress (Ulrich, …show more content…

O’Keefe, May Britt Moser, and Edward I. Moser won Nobel Prize in physiology for the discovery of the nerve cells responsible for sense of place (place cells) and navigation (grid cells). The place cells are a group of nerve cells present in the brain and responsible for creating mental maps for different environments. They provide the brain with spatial memory capacity. The grid cells are another group of nerve cells adjacent to the place cells. Grid cells provide the brain with internal coordinate system essential for navigation. Grid cells fire in the same spacing and orientation, but different in phasing so that together they cover every point in the environment. The firing of grid cells follows a fractal grid, the firing of neurons form nodes, the extension of such nodes cover every point in the environment and follows the same pattern of the original node -self-similarity- (Moser, et.al.,

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When people think of the environment they think of many things. To some, the environment could mean nature while others may consider it to be an entire ecosystem. In the book, “The Spell of the Sensuous,” philosopher David Abram discusses how humanity needs to reconnect with the environment and that the solution is to reduce our use of technology. He believes that once we are one with the environment, we can then proceed to treat it correctly and fix our mistakes. In the book, “Animal Liberation” the author, Peter Singer, defines “speciesism” and how animals and humans should be considered equally due to the fact that they both feel pleasure and pain.

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First of all, humans have cohabited together for thousands of years. They were involved in hunter-gathering bands and were forced to cooperate together and they also had to be intimately involved with other organisms (Santas 2014 95). Santas relies on the theory of biophilia to give precisions on the relation between humans and other living species. Biophilia is ‘a genetic disposition that links human survival to valuing living systems’ (Santas 2014 95). This sentiment is shown in the character of Robert Neville in IAL.

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1048 Words | 5 Pages

People have always known that nature can certainly improve mental health, but the new science of ecotherapy is proving just how beneficial nature really can be in all kinds of healing. Ecotherapy is the practice of using the natural world as a kind of therapy, for both mental and physical healing. James Hamblin in “The Nature Cure” and Oliver James in “Ecotherapy: how does the great outdoor improve mental health?” both agree that ecotherapy can be beneficial, and express that view through two different rhetorical strategies. They were both effective in how they explained their theses, with Hamblin appealing to logic and science, and James appealing to emotion and anecdotal evidence, but James did a better job at speaking to the average person.

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600 Words | 3 Pages

However there are dangerous things about nature even if humans need nature. The inclusion of nature in the good mind’s creation suggests that humans want a simplistic life in unity with nature, but without the chaos of nature in its purest

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2463 Words | 10 Pages

Why is this? There must be a better answer. Biosocial Theory states that there may be a chemistry problem or social connection issue. Meaning you become who you hang around with. In this paper the connection is made between the two theories and the biochemical

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Alfred Charles Kinsey brought homosexuality into the public forum. Alfred Charles Kinsey and his colleagues enquired detailed questions regarding research participants sexual backgrounds, with these results Alfred Charles Kinsey published two books: Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). From these research findings Alfred Charles Kinsey and his colleagues Wardell Pomeroy and Clyde Martin created The Kinsey Scale (also known as the Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale) in 1948, in order to account for the research findings that showed people did not fit into neat and exclusive heterosexual or homosexual categories (“The Kinsey Institute – Kinsey Sexuality Rating Scale,” n.d.). The publics’ reactions ranged from admiration and gratitude to horror and disgust. Some proponents believed that Alfred Charles Kinsey’s work would benefit humanity because increased knowledge of our sexual natures could only improve people’s lives, while opponents called the research ungodly and amoral (“The Kinsey Institute – Kinsey Sexuality Rating Scale,”

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1014 Words | 5 Pages

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s short paragraph, “Nature”, he reveals how nature protects us from calamities and also how nature is able to solve all our problems. In the middle of the paragraph, Emerson describes how nature makes him feel, “There I feel that nothing can befall me in life,-no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) [...] my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space,-all mean egotism vanishes”(Emerson 44). By saying this, Emerson is trying to prove that nature is valued as a sanctuary in his perspective because it provides him with a sense of peace shown by when he he describes the feelings nature provides. Nature provides Emerson with the feelings of being “bathed b the blithe air” and also being “uplifted into infinite space.”

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125 Words | 1 Pages

When the construct that biological factors could influence homosexuality was created, sex hormones were one of the obvious candidates to investigate. An initial theory was postulated, where homosexuality in men and women was caused by the high levels of opposite sex hormones, than in heterosexual men and women. Acting upon this theory, scientists in the early 1930’s to the 1940’s unsuccessfully attempted to make a conversion on homosexual men to heterosexuality by giving them sex hormones. After which, when accurate assessment of sex hormones level in the blood were created and developed, a study attracted the media by Masters and his colleagues, which found a strong correlating relationship between men’s testosterone and Kinsey scores, such

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Fetishism and paraphilia can be defined as a longstanding and persistent sexual interest that describes a powerful eroticization of a part of another person’s body (feet, hair, breasts), non-living objects (shoes, clothing, objects), (Kafka, 2010) or activities and experiences (sadism, masochism, voyeurism, and pedophilia) (Friedman & Downey, 2000). Many individuals view their fetishes to be a healthy expression of sexuality; however, it is considered a paraphilia disorder if it produces significant psychological distress or impairment of functioning (Dawson, Bannerman, & Lalumière, 2016). For the purpose of this paper, fetishism and paraphilia are defined as one in the same. Many fetishes are accepted by society such as seductive clothes,

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532 Words | 3 Pages

Today, the biological theory known as sexual selection is a widely accepted topic that is taught in many classrooms; however, during Darwin’s time sexual selection remained controversial among the scientific community. In ‘Sex, Society, and Peacock Tails: Sexual Selection from Darwin to Modern Times,’ Zuk and Orr explain how Darwin’s theory of sexual selection has evolved since the 1800s. Additionally, they address the many aspects associated with sexual selection today, offering the opinions of many scientists in the field of study. Many early scientists debated the validity of Darwin’s claims, but today the field of sexual selection has made many advancements based upon these initial theories.

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808 Words | 4 Pages

There are existing evidence proposing that sexual selection among humans has been relatively weak. The canine tooth dimorphism that is characteristic of many primates that exhibit extreme male competition for mates is absent in humans. Also, the biparental care and social monogamy that humans display is the same of species that exhibit very little male competition for mates, and the ability of men to monopolize woman while they are fertile is deterred by concealed ovulation. However, the presence of sexually dimorphic ornamentation, weaponry, courtship displays, and intrasexual competition does indicate some level of sexual selection. The body mass of men is about 15-20% greater than that of the female, this is comparable to certain primate species where the males express a modest degree of competition for mates.

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

Emotion in humans is a universal concept yet a singular definition of the word remains dubious. Emotions may be a natural reaction to a situation or a behaviour that we have learnt through environmental factors, therefore the concept of emotion falls under the nature-nurture debate as scientists continue to research it’s evolutionary or social basis. Arguably if emotions are learnt via the environment, research has argued that emotions are consciously performed as the brain looks for the appropriate behaviour for each social situation. On the other hand, other research has refuted this idea and stated that emotions have evolved over time and hence are performed at an unconscious biological level. Hence, it can be argued that there is both a social and evolutionary basis to

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723 Words | 3 Pages

Neurons

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377 Words | 2 Pages

The relationship between the human self and nature is strong because: To be happy is not getting satisfaction out of objects. Being happy comes from being outdoors and nature has a healing

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959 Words | 4 Pages

Nature is one of the most powerful and mysterious forces of the universe that influences man greatly. Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of nature and soul. It controls all the living, non-living, human, non-human, organic, inorganic and visible, invisible things. It rules over the universe like a monarch and man can’t escape from the influence of nature; he is influenced by both nature and culture. To man nature is the pure and original source of happiness.

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