Nature is good for us!
And why is that so? Because it reduces stress. There is now plenty of evidence on why we should reconnect with nature and rediscover the joys of nature.
In 1984, Roger Ulrich published his observations in a paper entitled “View through a window may influence recovery from surgery”. He observed that patients whose rooms looked out to natural settings recovered from surgery faster than patients with windows facing brick walls. He suggested the positive feelings (elicited by looking at nature) produced restorative effects by reducing fear and blocking out stress. In doing so, he articulated the important relationship between nature and health.
In the same year, Edward Wilson introduced the idea of biophilia (“love of life and the living world”) to explain our innate tendency to seek connections with nature. There are many observations for supporting this hypothesis. They include human aesthetic preference for natural environments; instinctive affiliation for other living organisms; and, improved cognitive functioning through connections with nature.
The reason why we seek nature is we evolved in nature – over a period of six million years! If urbanization is defined as a post-industrial revolution development, then 99.99% of human history has taken place in a natural setting. Our history as urban creatures is very short. In 1800, only 3% of the world population lived in urban settings. By 1900 this proportion increased to 14%, and today it stands at 54%.
One of the effects of urbanization is the amount of time we spend indoors (or in our cars). For example, it was estimated by the US Environmental Protection Agency that Americans spend about 93% and Europeans 90% of their time indoors. The situation in Singapore is likely to be similar. These figures show how disconnected we are with nature.
Scientists believe our physiological functions, in spite of living in an “artificialized” environment, are still very much adapted to nature. We cannot adjust to the rapid demands of urbanization in a short period (measured on an evolutionary timescale). The urbanized human race is now subjected to rapid technological intrusions, resulting in “technostress”. Such stress is widely felt and is detrimental to our health. One of the well-known ways of reducing stress is to reconnect with nature. After all, we are all part of nature.
Natural is the best antidote for stress!
Yes, nature is good for us!
Vince
Dr Vincent Chong is a retired Professor of Radiology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
