Wilson distills the idea more precisely as residing in the natural
world, identifying “the innately emotional affiliation of human beings
to other living organisms,” as an evolutionary adaptation aiding not
only survival but broader human fulfillment. Although no specific
genes have been found for biophilia, it’s well recognized—ironically,
some from studies of biophobia or fear—that even today our brains
respond powerfully and innately to natural stimuli. One powerful
example: snake! Our visual cortex picks up snake patterns and
movements more quickly than other kinds of patterns. It’s likely that
snakes even drove the evolution of our highly sensitive depth
perception, according to University of California anthropologist
Lynne Isbell. She discovered special neurons in the brain’s pulvinar
region, a visual system unique to humans, apes and monkeys.
Primates who evolved in places seething with venomous snakes have
better vision than primates who didn’t evolve in those places.
But survival wasn’t only about avoiding harm. It was also about
finding the best food, shelter and other resources. It makes sense that
certain habitats would trigger a neural bath of happy hormones, and
that our brains would acquire the easy ability to “learn” this in the
same way we learn to fear snakes and spiders. Going beyond that, our
ancestors also had to learn how to recover from stress, Pleistocene-
style. After they were chased by a lion or dropped a precious tuber
over a cliff, they had to get over it in order to be welcomed back to
the tribe, without which there was little survival. The biophilia
hypothesis posits that peaceful or nurturing elements of nature helped
us regain equanimity, cognitive clarity, empathy and hope. When
love, laughter and music weren’t around, there was always a sunset.
The humans who were most attuned to the cues of nature were the
ones who survived to pass on those traits. Biophilia explains why
even today we build houses on the lake, why every child wants a
teddy bear, and why Apple names itself after a fruit and its software
after noble predators, surfing spots and national parks. The company