My apartment in Brooklyn has a sterile design. The windows have screens to prevent insects from entering. I chose indoor plants specifically because they keep pests away. While commuting to other similarly sterile indoor spaces, co-working offices, movie theaters, and friends’ apartments, I dodge around pigeons, look away from ferocious rats, and watch the odd scuttling cockroach. I’m shaking. But once I’m back indoors, the only living things present (I hope, and at least as far as I can tell) are the ones I choose to interact with. Namely, my partner and a low-maintenance snake plant. By the window.
My aversion to pigeons, rats, and cockroaches is somewhat justified given their cultural association with filth and disease. But such aversion is part of a larger alienation between humanity and the natural world. As nature becomes more foreign, isolated, and strange to us, we tend to rebel against it. These feelings, some experts say, could lead people to avoid nature even more.The vicious cycle of biophobia”
This feedback loop is very similar to other vicious cycles in modern life. Psychologists know that lonely people tend to think: more negatively see others as unreliable, further promoting isolation. Our relationship with nature and our relationship with each other may seem to be completely different phenomena, but they are both parallel and related. It seems that life without nature is a lonely life, and vice versa.
The Western world has been trending toward both social phobia and loneliness for decades. In a 1993 essay, environmental studies researcher and climate change advocate David Orr wrote, “Now more than ever, we live in and among our creations, and we live in our immediate environment.” “I feel increasingly uncomfortable with nature that is beyond my control.” This discomfort can manifest as a dislike of camping or discomfort with the prickly feel of park grass. Also, the presence of insects may manifest as disgust. 2021 Papers Japanese scholars say urbanization is partly to blame. Pushing nature out of our vicinity with concrete, walls, window screens, and a stay-at-home lifestyle also increases our chances of experiencing it. do Relationships with other life forms will be negative, Orr writes. If there are only pigeons around that you find dirty, you are much less likely to love birds.
Increased feelings of loneliness have been further documented.Americans are spending more time in house and alone more than a few decades ago.in his book bowling alone, political scientist Robert Putnam cites data showing that from the 1970s to the late 1990s, Americans hosted friends at home from about 15 times a year to just eight times a year. . It’s no wonder, then, that nearly one in five American adults reported feeling lonely for much of the previous day. April Gallup Poll. loneliness has become a buzzword in public health. Public Health Secretary Vivek Murthy called it “infectious disease”It affects both mental and physical health. At least in the United States, COVID-19 has expanded our priorities and made things even worse. personal spaceAnd when that space was violated, more reactions began to occur. violent.
The parallel rise in loneliness and social phobia may not be just a coincidence. In a 1993 essay, Orr wrote that appreciation for nature will primarily flourish “where bonds between people and between people and the natural world create patterns of connection, responsibility, and mutual need.” writing. According to the literature, he is right. Vineeth Jennings, a senior fellow at Harvard University’s JPB Environmental Health Fellowship Program, says our sense of community is influenced by how pleasant or desirable we perceive time spent in nature. states that it is having an impact. the study These relationships taught me. in one 2017 survey In four European cities, increased community trust led to more time spent in communal green spaces.a 2022 survey During the coronavirus-related closures, Australian Asians showed they were more likely to walk outside if they lived in close-knit neighborhoods with high interpersonal trust.
Racial and ethnic relationships can have particularly strong effects on time spent in nature. A 2022 study conducted in Australia found that Asians were less likely to go walking than whites, which the study authors attributed to anti-Asian racism. Research shows that minority groups in the United States, particularly blacks and Hispanic Americans, less likely to participate in outdoor recreationcommonly cited Racism, fear of racist encounters, or lack of easy access as an important factor. In contrast, an overarching message in a place like a city park Motivating diverse people Spending time outdoors.
Conversely, simply being in nature and remembering time spent there can increase a sense of belonging, says co-author Katherine White, a behavioral scientist at the University of British Columbia. 2021 Papers on the subject.author of a book 2022 Papers They found that “people who identify strongly with nature, enjoy spending time in nature, and visit gardens more often are likely to have a stronger sense of social cohesion.”in 2018 survey Preschoolers in Hong Kong were more involved with nature, had better relationships with peers, and showed more kindness and helpfulness.a 2014 experiment In France, researchers showed that people who had just spent time walking in a park were more likely to pick up and return a glove dropped by a stranger than people who were about to enter the park. The results have been consistent, White told me. “When you’re in nature, you’re more likely to help others, even at a personal cost.”
Time spent in natural spaces can contribute to a greater sense of belonging, as it typically requires being in public spaces. Unlike homes and offices, natural spaces provide environments for unpredictable social interactions, such as meeting new neighbors at the dog park or spontaneously striking up a conversation with a stranger on a walking trail. This is “forming connections and building social networks,” Jennings said.in study In Montreal, Canada, researchers found that by spending time in public parks and natural spaces, immigrant families were able to talk to neighbors, make new friends, and feel included in their new community, all for free. discovered by. Similarly, there are reasons to suspect that strong human relationships can help erase the aversion we feel toward the natural world. We learn fear through each other, said UCLA evolutionary biologist Daniel Blumstein. The safer and more enjoyable experiences you have in a group, the greater your tolerance for new and unfamiliar things.
It would be a stretch to say that simply giving people more access to grass will solve all social problems, or that increased social cohesion will guarantee that humanity will come together to save the planet. Our relationship with the Earth and each other changes throughout our lives and is influenced by many variables that are difficult to capture in a single study. But this bidirectional phenomenon is a sign that if you’re looking to get out more or connect with your neighbors, you might as well do both. “Natural ecosystems depend on different people and vice versa,” Jennings said. “You don’t have to go on long hikes every day to understand that.”
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