La biofilia, fra eredità genetica e cultura

Abstract

Culture mediates our relationship with other species and the environment. But its intervention does not occur on a blank slate. We have co-evolved for millions of years in close contact and interaction with our planet. This bond appears to be inscribed in our own genome. According to important studies in environmental psychology, at the basis of our attraction for what we usually call "nature" there is an innate psychic bond, called "biophilia". An important source of well-being on a physiological, cognitive and emotional level, biophilia corresponds to a primary psychological need that cannot be disregarded without consequences. However, biophilia doesn't necessarily express itself. Its development depends, to a significant extent, on cultural transmission. Entangled between genetics and culture, between human and nonhuman, and extremely important for pro-environmental behaviour, biophilia appears to be to the author as a promising new field of investigation for educational anthropology.