Love it or Lose it: The Coming Biophilia Revolution by David W. Orr

“Biophobia, is increasingly common among people raised with television, Walkman radios attached to their heads, and video games and living amidst shopping malls, freeways, and dense urban or suburban settings where nature is permitted tastefully, as decoration.” (Orr 186). “Biophilia is…’the passionate love of life and all that is alive.” (Orr 187). These two terms are on two opposite extremes of a spectrum. Biophobia is when someone doesn’t like nature and doesn’t want anything to do with it. People who have biophobia can live without the world’s natural beauties; such as lakes, forests, oceans, and more. Some people can often fear nature’s beauties when suffering from this as well. On the other hand, people with biophilia are completely fascinated with the world and all that it entails. These people live and breathe for the world around them and love to be a part of anything that has to do with nature. “Biophobia is not OK for the same reason that misanthropy and sociopathy are not OK. We recognize these as a result of deformed childhoods that create unloving and often violent adults.” (Orr 191). Orr is trying to get across how serious it is to be a person with biophobia, this can be seen equally to being a sociopath or someone who has mental instability. People need to grow up in a house that appreciate and sees the value in the nature and world around us. It is important that we know where our food, oxygen, and most daily things come from. Without nature we would not exist and there is no reason that people should fear or hate the world around them. “The ecological crisis, in short, is about what it means to be human.” (Orr 197). I found this article very interesting; I notice how people are growing farther away from nature and being a part of the natural world. Although, I didn’t expect such hatred from some individuals toward it. I hope there is some way to help these people see that the world is a good thing and if treated right can keep providing us with all that we need to survive. I feel as though I am in the middle of this spectrum that Orr talks about; I love the outdoors and all that we get from the natural world, but I don’t continuously spend time in it.

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