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An e-zine to reflect on ecopsychology, biophilia and ecospirituality. Illustrated with pictures by Georges Karras. bit.ly/1p9b1to
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Georges Karras
Wild Wilts﴿ Nature and the state of madness
﴿ Wild: Pronunciation: /wʌɪld
1 (Of an animal or plant) living or growing in the natural environment; not domesticated or
cultivated.
1.1 Produced from wild animals or plants without cultivation.
2 (Of a place or region) uninhabited, uncultivated, or inhospitable.
2.1 (Of sea or the weather) rough and stormy.
2.2 (Of people) not civilized; primitive.
2.3 (Of a look, appearance, etc.) indicating distraction or strong emotion.
3 Lacking discipline or restraint.
3.1 Very enthusiastic or excited.
3.2 Very angry.
4 Not based on sound reasoning or probability.
5 Of a playing card) deemed to have any value, suit, colour, or other property in a game at
the discretion of the player holding it.
﴿ Wilt: Pronounciation: /wɪlt
1 (Of a plant, leaf, or flower) become limp through heat, loss of water, or disease; droop.
1.1 (Of a person) lose energy, vigour, or confidence.
2 Leave (mown grass or a forage crop) in the open to dry partially before being collected
for silage.
Pictures : Georges Karras · Texts : wikipedia.org · Definitions : Oxford dictionaries 2014.
Wildness is literally the quality of being wild or untamed, but further to this, it has been defined
as a quality produced in nature (Thoreau 1906), as that which emerges from a forest (Micoud
1993), and as a level of achievement in nature (Cookson 2004). More recently, it has been
defined as 'a quality of interactive processing between organism and nature where the realities
of base natures are met, allowing the construction of durable systems. It differs from
wilderness, which is a place where wildness occurs.
Human perceptions of wildness
Wildness is often mentioned in the writings of naturalists, such as John Muir and David
Brower, where it is admired for its freshness and otherness. Henry David Thoreau wrote the
famous phrase, “In wildness is the preservation of the world.” Some artists and photographers
such as Eliot Porter explore wildness in the themes of their works. The benefits of reconnecting
with nature by seeing the achievements of wildness is an area being investigated
by ecopsychology.
Attempts to identify the characteristics of wildness are varied. One consideration sees wildness
as that part of nature which is not controllable by humans. Nature retains a measure of
autonomy, or wildness, apart from human constructions (Evanoff, 2005). Another version of
this theme is that wildness produces things that are natural, while humans produce things that
are artificial (man-made). Ambiguities about the distinction between the natural and the
artificial animate much of art, literature and philosophy. There is the perception that naturally
produced items have a greater elegance over artificial things.
Another view of wildness is that it is a social construct (Callicott 1994), and that humans cannot
be considered innately ‘unnatural’. As wildness is claimed to be a quality that builds from
animals and ecosystems, it often fails to be considered within reductionist theories for nature.
Meanwhile, an ecological perspective sees wildness as "(the degree of) subjection to natural
selection pressures", many of which emerge independently from thebiosphere. Thus modern
civilization - contrasted with all humanity - can be seen as an 'unnatural' force (lacking
wildness) as it strongly insulates its population from many natural selection mechanisms,
including interspecific competition such as predation and disease, as well as
some intraspecific phenomena.
Wildness in Human Psychology
The basic idea of ecopsychology is that while the human mind is shaped by the modern social
world, it can be readily inspired and comforted by the wider natural world, because that is the
arena in which it originally evolved. Mental health or unhealth cannot be understood in the
narrow context of only intrapsychic phenomena or social relations. One also has to include the
relationship of humans to other species and ecosystems. These relations have a deep
evolutionary history; reach a natural affinity within the structure of their brains and they have
deep psychic significance in the present time, in spite of urbanization. Humans are dependent
on healthy nature not only for their physical sustenance, but for mental health, too.
Reasons to embrace nature
Ecopsychology explores how to develop emotional bonds with nature. It considers this to be
worthwhile because when nature is explored and viewed without judgement, it gives the
sensations of harmony, balance, timelessness and stability. Ecopsychology largely
rejects reductionist views of nature that focus upon rudimentary building blocks such
as genes, and that describe nature as selfish and a struggle to survive. Ecopsychology
considers that there has been insufficient scientific description and exploration of nature, in
terms of wildness, parsimony, spirituality and emotional ties. For example, parsimony is the
best way to produce an evolutionary tree of the species (cladistics), suggesting that
parsimonious adaptations are selected. Yet today, the brain is often seen as complicated and
governed by inherited mind modules, rather than being a simple organ that looks for
parsimony within the influences of its surroundings, resulting in the compaction in minds of
a great diversity of concepts.
Practical benefits
Certain researchers propose that an individual's connection to nature can improve their
interpersonal relationships and emotional wellbeing. An integral part of this practice is to
remove psychotherapy, and the individual, from the interior of office buildings and homes and
place them outdoors. According to the precepts of ecopsychology, a walk in the woods or a city
park is refreshing because it is what humans evolved to do. Psychologists such as Roger Ulrich,
Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, Frances Kuo and others have studied the beneficial effects of
inhabiting natural settings and of looking at pictures of landscapes on the human psyche.
Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit
Disorder discusses in detail how the exposure of children to nature can assist in treating mental
disorders, including attention deficit disorder.
Another premise of ecopsychology is that steps taken to accept and notice nature can sharpen
the senses and help people cultivate new skills. For example, the ability to track and navigate
through a wilderness is improved if nature is noticed and accepted rather than feared. Similarly,
ecopsychology proposes that sailors who appreciate the sea gain a keen sense for breeze
directions.
Cultures that embrace nature
In its exploration of how to bond with nature, ecopsychology is interested in the examples
provided by a wide variety of ancient and modern cultures that have histories of embracing
nature. Examples include aboriginal, pagan, Buddhist, and Hindu cultures, as well as
shamanism and the more recent hesychast tradition. Of interest is how identity becomes
entwined with nature, so that loss of those sacred places is far more devastating to indigenous
people than often understood. Native American stories, in particular, illustrate a socially
recognized sense of community between humans and the natural landscape. Eastern Orthodox
monks led a contemplative life deeply intertwined with nature. Other lessons include how to
live sustainably within an environment and the self-sacrifices made to tolerate natural limits,
such as population control or a nomadic existence that allows the environment to regenerate.
Moreover, certain indigenous cultures have developed methods of psychotherapy involving the
presence of trees, rivers, and astronomical bodies
Pain and delusions without nature
Ecopsychologists have begun detecting unspoken grief within individuals, an escalation of pain
and despair, felt in response to widespread environmental destruction. The field of
ecopsychology intends to illustrate how environmental disconnection functions as an aspect of
existing pathologies, without creating a new category. The contention is that if a culture is
disconnected from nature, then various aspects of an individual's life will be negatively
impacted. It also believes that that without the influence of nature, humans are prone to a variety
of delusions, and that to some degree life in the wild forms the basis for human sanity and
optimal psychological development. The topic is explored in detail Paul Shepard's book Nature
and Madness. It is also proposed that separation from outdoor contact causes a loss of sensory
and information-processing ability that was developed over the course of human evolution,
which was spent in direct reciprocity with the environment.
Biophilia hypothesis
The biophilia hypothesis suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and
other living systems. Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his
book, Biophilia (1984). He defines biophilia as "the urge to affiliate with other forms of life".
The term "biophilia" literally means "love of life or living systems." It 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 the same 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 nature are rooted in our biology.
Unlike phobias, which are the aversions and fears that people have of things in the natural
world, philias are the attractions and positive feelings that people have toward certain habitats,
activities, and objects in their natural surroundings.
To many people, "nature" means plants as in a park or forest, but the weather and animals are
also closely involved. 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 emphasised
particularly for early and middle childhood. Chapter 7 of the same book reports on the help that
animals can provide to children with autistic-spectrum disorders.
Product of biological evolution
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 and find
them appealing across species. The large eyes and small features of any young mammal face are
far more appealing than those of the mature adults. The biophilia hypothesis suggests that the
positive emotional response that adult mammals have toward baby mammals across species
helps increase the survival rates of all mammals.
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 other words, our natural love for life helps sustain life.
Very often, flowers also indicate potential for food later. Most fruits start their development as
flowers. For our ancestors, it was crucial to spot, detect and remember the plants that would
later provide nutrition.
Ecospirituality
Ecospirituality connects the science of ecology with spirituality. It brings together religion
and environmental activism. Proponents may come from a range of faiths including Islam;
Catholic, Evangelical and Orthodox Christianity; Judaism; Buddhism and indigenous
traditions. Ecosprituality claims that there is 'a spiritual dimension to our present ecological
crisis.'
As one advocate explains: Eco-spirituality is about helping people experience "the holy" in the
natural world and to recognize their relationship as human beings to all creation.
Ecospirituality has been influenced by the ideas of deep ecology. Similarly to ecopsychology, it
refers to the connections between the science of ecology and the study of psychology. 'Earth-
based' spirituality is another term related to ecospirituality.