Biophilia vs. Biophobia

“Whatever is in our genes, then, the affinity for life is now a choice we must make.” (Orr 187)

This statement is one of the truest statements I’ve read. Not only does it apply to how you live with nature, but it also applies to how you go about all other aspects of your life. Every day we wake up and decide how we are going to spend our time. It is a choice we make by taking into consideration what will benefit ourselves and the others around us.  I had to look up the definition of affinity to really grasp what was being said in this sentence, but the part of the definition that stood out to me was “the natural liking for something or someone.” So no matter what genes you are made up of, what we once had a natural liking for must now be a conscious decision that we make. The affinity for biophilia, which once came natural to humans, must now be a mindful decision that we as individuals must make.

http://www.strangenotions.com/two-paths/

“But crossing this divide first required us to discard the belief that the world was alive and worthy of respect.” (Orr 189)

This statement makes it sound like all is lost of the nature in our world today. Yes, there are some areas that may have been taken to the extreme, but to me a lot of it is how the modern world is revolutionizing the way it goes about daily life. I do not think today’s society has completely lost all sense of respect and worth of the environment. As times keep changing, I think it is near impossible for humans to continue living an unaltered life. Generations are changing, along with research, technology, medicine and other areas of life. Just because times differ does not mean we have lost all respect that we have for our natural environment.

http://www.modernhdwallpaper.com/archives/8746.html

“We should worry a good bit less about whether our progeny will be able to compete as a “world-class workforce” and a great deal more about whether they will know how to live life sustainably on the earth.” (Orr 206)

I understand that this idea is saying we need to make children more aware of the natural world and sustainability, but with the world we live in today that is not how they will survive and thrive. I guess I am wondering how we strike a balance between the two extremes. Our culture has moved further away from complete biophilia, but it is also developing in a new way. We are not aiming for biophobia, but as new technologies and ideas emerge, why not take advantage of them to the fullest extent. Maybe some common ground needs to be found, but what is unclear to me is how we will reach that solution.

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/oct/20/teaching-children-programme-code-technology-creativity