I
have just finished reading Edward Wilson's (1984) book Biophilia. He defines biophilia as "...the innate {human} tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes." (p.1) So, from our millions of years of evolution from singled-celled life to our current human form, we have grown to be part of the landscape around us, and in particular to be drawn towards other life forms. This could be similar to the leaf-cutter ants Wilson speaks about later in the book, and how they have co-evolved with a fungus. The fungus is cultivated by the ants in the heart of their hive, and they in turn use it as their food source. This symbiosis illustrates that we have also evolved symbiotically with other forms of life on the Earth, not apart from them.
Modern urban life can seek to separate humans from the natural world, going against our millions of years of evolution. We focus ever more on TV, the internet, shopping, packeted meat and food, our cars, whilst forgetting that this can lead to removing us from the natural world. This separation from the natural world may lead to dysfunction as we try to 'go it alone' without the very world which has created us: the trees, weather, rivers, and other animals; those forces which have sustained us for millennia.
Does our modern way of living sustain us?