Biophilia vs. Biophobia

"Biophobia, in short, is the culturally acquired urge too affiliate with technology, human artifacts, and solely with human interests regarding the natural world." (Orr, 187)

I never knew before reading this that there was such a thing s biophila and biophobia but I had noticed it. I did a speech in Public Speaking last year about paying attention to the world around you. At FGCU we have a beautiful campus but so many students and faculty don't take the time to enjoy it. People are often too busy in their daily lives... using phones and getting where they need to go as quick as possible. I think people should look up every once in a while and just experience how beautiful the world is.

FGCU Boardwalk. Photo by Johnson Engineering

"Biophilia or something close to it was woven throughout the myths, religions, and mindset of early humankind, which saw itself as participating with nature." (Orr, 188)

People in the past were much more interested in the world around them. I believe this was because they didn't have the technology that we do now to distract us from nature. If a person today is bored, they can easily find thousands of different things to do inside. Early humankind didn't have that luxury, therefore they were more interested in nature. In our lives today there are way more distractions from the world. Early humans did not litter because they only had natural resources from the earth. They felt more of a connection with the world because they were in it more often. I wish people today could be as involved with the earth as people were back then but I don't think that is possible. We are too technologically advanced and complicated to think so innocently.

Early humans using natural resources. Photo by kohlerhistory

"We, in contrast, must choose between biophobia and biophilia because science and technology have given us the power to destroy so completely as well as the knowledge to understand the consequences of doing so." (Orr, 188)

As I had previously mentioned, I believe that early humans lacked the ability to destroy the world as easily as we can today. Of course this is not a bad thing but they also didn't have the knowledge we do to understand it and how to take care of it. Humans today need to be self aware of how they are effecting the world and if they need to change that. I feel we are now making steps toward a healthy world by reducing the resources we use and recycling. As well as many other ways. I think people should look more in depth at how they are changing the world and get involved in making the world a healthier place.

Cleaning up our planet. Photo by: Scholastic