Edward O. Wilson<\/a> defined biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”. \u00a0He suggested that people are born with an instinctive\u00a0bond with\u00a0other living systems. \u00a0Most kids love\u00a0animals – Wilson says that’s instinctive. \u00a0We like to think of biophilia as finding the joy in nature \u2013 ‘affiliating with other forms of life’ sounds a tad creepy.<\/p>\nThe opposite, biophobia, is the fear of nature. \u00a0Unless they are growing up in a city without contact with nature,\u00a0\u00a0this usually isn’t a general fear in kids. \u00a0More typically it would be a fear of spiders or snakes or caves or some other aspect of\u00a0nature rather than nature itself. \u00a0A kid might love a bunny rabbit while live in fear of dogs. \u00a0David Orr writing in Earth in Mind: On Education,\u00a0Environment, and the Human Prospect<\/em>, calls biophobia humanity\u2019s distaste for \u2018natural systems\u2019; this ranges from discomfort in ‘natural’ places to active scorn for whatever isn’t man made, managed, or air-conditioned.<\/p>\nBiophobia<\/h2>\n
Whether biophilia in instinctual or not plays on biophobia in kids. \u00a0If kids start out loving nature, the development of biophobia becomes an issue of child development. \u00a0Something in a kid’s life journey made them afraid of some aspect of nature. \u00a0The question for a kid’s adults is how to prevent a dog bite, or whatever, from becoming a fear of dogs. \u00a0Things will happen to any healthy kid, we just want to be sure these things stay in context and don’t lead to some form of biophobia. \u00a0Further, \u00a0we as adults don’t want to transfer our phobias to our kids.<\/p>\n
![\"Snake\"](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/snake.jpg\")
When I was little, an uncle had a board with four deer hooves mounted to it. \u00a0He rattled them on the floor behind me and scared me half to death. \u00a0After that, \u00a0I always was leery of that uncle and stayed away from those hooves. \u00a0As an adult I have no fear of deer hooves, mounted or not and I don’t even recall which uncle it was that pulled that trick on me. \u00a0Point is, \u00a0I didn’t develop a phobia around deer or their hooves or, for that matter, uncles.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, \u00a0I have a fear of heights. \u00a0I have no recollection of anything that might have generated that fear in me. \u00a0Some have suggested that experiences of ancestors can be passed down in the form of fears like acrophobia. \u00a0Maybe, maybe not. \u00a0My fear is not extremely irrational in that it develops in places where falling would cause, at least, massive injury. \u00a0Further, \u00a0I can overcome it with practice. \u00a0Basically I have to get into the high place a few times until I feel I can handle the situation safely, then it’s ok. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFor example, I had the opportunity to take a canopy crane ride at the Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility in the\u00a0Gifford Pinchot National Forest a few years back. \u00a0I knew people rode in the open canopy all the time with no problem so, intellectually,\u00a0\u00a0I knew there was nothing to fear. \u00a0Still I gripped the railing so tightly while dangling 240 feet in the air that I suspect you can still find the indentations from my fingers on the steel-pipe railing. \u00a0The others on the gondola had comfortable conversations as they scanned the roof of the forest. \u00a0I would have taken the ride\u00a0again if the opportunity presented itself and I probably would have come to enjoy it after a few times. \u00a0Point is that these kinds of phobias can be overcome.<\/span><\/p>\nMaintaining Biophilia<\/h2>\n
So, what can we do for our kids and grandkids to help them keep their instinctual love of all parts of nature? \u00a0Here are some ideas:![\"rat\"](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/rat.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n- Don’t intentionally scare your kids with spiders or snakes or anything else that might give them an opportunity\u00a0to develop a phobia. \u00a0If you insist upon taking them to scary movies or the halloween haunted house, be sure to put the experience in perspective and, if at all possible, show them the simple mechanics behind the screen.<\/li>\n
- When your kid does, as they will, get injured or scared by some aspect of nature, don’t coddle them, but do help them get the incident into perspective and take their responsibility in the situation. \u00a0For example, \u00a0what did they do to incite the dog to bite them? \u00a0Did the dog growl first (an opportunity to teach what growing means)? \u00a0Was there some other warning they could learn about that will prevent a future dog bite? \u00a0Simply give them the tools they need to prevent or deal with a dog bite in the future so they are no longer afraid of the situation.<\/li>\n
- Get them out of the city. \u00a0Take them hiking, camping, and swimming in a lake and\u00a0the ocean and make it enjoyable. \u00a0Help them experience and enjoy nature.<\/li>\n
- Teach them about ecology, geology, meteorology, zoology, biology and all the aspects of nature and help them get it into context. \u00a0Start with books, but be certain the book knowledge is brought into reality through direct experience.<\/li>\n
- If they have already developed a fear of something in nature, help them work through it. \u00a0If it’s particularly deep seated, you may need professional help. \u00a0If it isn’t too bad, \u00a0help them gain more experience with and knowledge of the object of their fear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Why is this important?<\/h2>\n
Here’s a quote from E.O. Wilson:<\/p>\n
“People can grow up with the outward appearance of normality in an environment largely stripped of plants and animals, in the same way that passable looking monkeys can be raised in laboratory cages and cattle fattened in feeding bins. Asked if they were happy, these people would probably say yes. Yet something vitally important would be missing, not merely the knowledge and pleasure that can be imagined and might have been, but a wide array of experiences that the human brain is peculiarly equipped to receive.”<\/p>\n
Where does personal biophobia lead? \u00a0Nature deficit disorder<\/a> \u2013 we’ve talked about that before. \u00a0Societal biophobia can be more dangerous as it can lead to the loss of natural functions on the planet\u00a0as a result of:<\/p>\n\n- trying to control nature<\/li>\n
- making decisions without the necessary understanding and appreciation of the role of nature and potential outcomes of those decisions<\/li>\n
- simply ignoring nature in the quest to expand the built environment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What do you think?<\/h2>\n
Should we concern ourselves with biophobia? \u00a0How do you suggest we help kids avoid \u00a0biophobia? \u00a0How about society and biophobia in the political process? \u00a0Leave your comments below.<\/p>\n
Please Share<\/h2>\n
#nature #biophilia #biophobia #fearofnature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Edward O. Wilson defined biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”. \u00a0He suggested that people are born with an instinctive\u00a0bond with\u00a0other living systems. \u00a0Most kids love\u00a0animals – Wilson says that’s instinctive. \u00a0We like to think of biophilia as finding the joy in nature \u2013 ‘affiliating with other forms of life’ sounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9,22,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-health","category-mental","category-philosophy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":463,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions\/463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Spider](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Spider-Web.jpg\")
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