Post #12: Love It or Lose It

In this excerpt Orr refers to being disconnected from nature as suffering from biophobia. He describes this as someone who surrounds themselves with constant technology such as television, internet, and video games. People like this usually live in cities or suburban areas where nature is very seldom. People who become accustom to living in these conditions are usually afraid of any sort of wildlife including water and land because of their disconnection. Biophilia, on the other hand, is someone who wants to be constantly around other forms of life than their own. Orr explains that there was a shift throughout the late middle ages that resulted in humans either being biophilic or biophobic, there usually is no common middle ground.

Biophobia is not a healthy way of living. First of all, it it not fair to leave all the work of preserving our planet to biophiliacs. Second of all, it can lead to a deformed childhood that results in an angry adult. I agree with this because of Louv's excerpt from the beginning of the semester. He talked about the importance of the outdoors in the lives of children in order to enhance their well-being.

I am confident that mankind has the power to love the planet. If not the planet in itself, I agree with Orr that we are capable of loving what "we can see, touch, smell and experience". The importance of keeping children continuously connected to the outdoors is crucial in deterring biophobia from happening in the first place.