Consilience In The 21st Century

The last two centuries -with the rise of modern sciences- witnessed an increase of knowledge specialization and fragmentation. Since then a sharp dividing line was drawn between two important branches of knowledge; natural sciences and social sciences/humanities. Scientists argue that the boundary is not a fine line but a broad unexplored area of linking phenomena (Wilson, 1998a). Such stream of thinking brought attention to concepts like consilience and universology.
The word Consilience was first used by William Whewell to explain “the linking of facts across disciplines to create a common ground of explanation...it is a test of the truth of the theory” (Whewell, 1840). If there is a contradiction between a theory and another one in a related discipline then either one of them is wrong or there is a gap between the two disciplines that needs further investigation. Edward Wilson argues that we

Homo sapiens is the only species that destructed the environment, changed the world 's climate and atmosphere during its evolution. Our health, productivity and longevity improved drastically but alongside a large fraction of plant and animal species were extinguished. We are now facing serious environmental issues that can be catastrophic for future generations. Adopting sustainable approaches -in different disciplines- is no longer a marketing criteria it is a necessity to maintain our life on earth.
1.5.2 Different approaches towards humane architecture
Concerns regarding our relation to nature and restoring natural environment guided the rise of new architectural approaches that aim to create a more humane and nourishing built environment. Those approaches include; sustainable design, ecological design, green design, evidence based design, biophilic design, and premaculture. The next section discusses such approaches briefly, while biophilia will be discussed later in details.
Ecological