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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biophilia hypothesis | 1/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biophilia_hypothesis | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:59:06.376743+00:00 | kb-cron |
The biophilia hypothesis (also called BET) suggests that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life. Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book, Biophilia (1984). He defines biophilia as the "innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes". He argued that "to explore and affiliate with life is a deep and complicated process in mental development. To an extent still undervalued in philosophy and religion, our existence depends on this propensity, our spirit is woven from it, hope rises on its currents". Wilson saw modern biology as converging with biophilia: "Modern biology has produced a genuinely new way of looking at the world that is incidentally congenial to the inner direction of biophilia. In other words, instinct is in this rare instance aligned with reason.... to the degree that we come to understand other organisms, we will place a greater value on them, and on ourselves".
== Natural affinity for living systems == "Biophilia" is an innate affinity of life or living systems. The term was first used by Erich Fromm to describe a psychological orientation of being attracted to all that is alive and vital. Wilson uses the term in a related sense when he suggests that biophilia describes "the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life." He proposed the possibility that the deep affiliations humans have with other life forms and nature as a whole are rooted in our biology. Both positive and negative (including phobic) affiliations toward natural objects (species, phenomenon) as compared to artificial objects are evidence for biophilia. Although named by Fromm, the concept of biophilia has been proposed and defined many times over. Aristotle was one of many to put forward a concept that could be summarized as "love of life". Diving into the term philia, or friendship, Aristotle evokes the idea of reciprocity and how friendships are beneficial to both parties in more than just one way, but especially in the way of happiness. The hypothesis has since been developed as part of theories of evolutionary psychology. Taking on an evolutionary perspective, people being drawn towards life and nature can be explained in part due to our evolutionary history of residing in natural environments, as only recently in our history have we shifted towards an urbanized lifestyle. These connections to nature can still be seen in people today as people gravitate towards, identify with, and desire to connect with nature. These connections are not limited to any one component part of nature, as people show connections to a wide range of natural things including plants, animals, and environmental landscapes. One possible explanation is that our ancestors who had stronger connections to nature would hold an evolutionary advantage over less connected people as they would have better knowledge and therefore access to food, water, and shelter. In a broader and more general sense research has suggested that our modern urban environments are not suited for minds that evolved in natural environments. Human preferences toward things in nature, while refined through experience and culture, are hypothetically the product of biological evolution. For example, adult mammals (especially humans) are generally attracted to baby mammal faces with their large eyes and rounded features and find them appealing across species. Similarly, the hypothesis helps explain why ordinary people care for and sometimes risk their lives to save domestic and wild animals, and keep plants and flowers in and around their homes. In the book Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations edited by Peter Kahn and Stephen Kellert, the importance of animals, especially those with which a child can develop a nurturing relationship, is emphasized particularly for early and middle childhood. The same book reports on the help that animals can provide to children with autistic-spectrum disorders.
=== Physiological responses: fractal fluency === Fractal fluency is a neuroscience model that proposes that, through exposure to nature's fractal scenery, people's visual systems have adapted to efficiently process fractals with ease. Fractals are patterns that repeat at different scales. Examples in natural scenery include clouds, mountains and trees. This adaptation to fractal patterns occurs at many stages of the visual system, from the way people's eyes move to which regions of the brain get activated. Fluency puts the viewer in a ‘comfort zone’ so inducing an aesthetic experience. Humans appear to be especially well-adapted to processing fractal patterns with fractal dimension between 1.3 and 1.5. When humans view fractal patterns with fractal dimensions in this range, these fractals reduce physiological stress and boost cognitive abilities. Biophilic fractals are patterns designed to induce the health and well-being benefits associated with exposure to nature's scenery. These include stress-reduction and enhanced cognitive capacity. Designers and architects incorporate biophilic fractals into the built environment to counter the fact that people spend 92% of their time indoors and away from nature's scenery. The Fractal Chapel designed by INNOCAD architecture in the state hospital in Graz, Austria, is a prominent example and recipient of the 2025 IIDA (International Interior Design Association) Best of Competition Award.
== Indigenous perspectives on the human-nature connection ==