Biophobia

When the sun sets, the canopy closes over, and the chirping of birds gives way to the noise of the night, it is hard to remember that nature is what sustains us. Instead it becomes an unknown, a direct threat to our humanity, instilling in us the very biophobia which it could be argued is responsible for the brutal divide between us and it. Quick legs, sharp teeth, and piercing eyes all lurk within the hungry shadows. Lars von Trier highlights the idea of "nature as Satan's church" in his film Antichrist.

 

Fear stems from an inability to predict the unknown, but it could also be argued that we have constructed rational fears based on previous knowledge. Ssssnakes and spiders across the globe elicit reactions of terror, further enforced by cultural practice, rightly so given their nefarious defensive mechanisms which will have been of fatal importance to our ancestors. The nostalgia felt for the savannahs could be construed as viewed with the same eye, an area of abundant game but importantly visible enemies, unlike the dark dank green hell of the tropics. Biophobia must be an important consideration when tackling human enduced eco-cide, and understood when addressing our relationship with nature.