|
While reading about the history of psychology, I came across mention of an 1897
article on "dendro-psychoses" by J.O. Quantz. Because I had undertaken research on people's
preferences for different tree forms (the acacia shape came out in top place), the title was
intriguing. Dendro means tree and psychoses--well, I thought I knew its meaning, but found I
was mistaken. In the 19th century, psychosis had one meaning--"state of mind." Based on that,
the article title would become, in modern terminology, "The Origins of Human Attachment to
Trees." Psychosis also had a second meaning in psychiatry, referring to serious mental
disorder. That definition has remained and has obliterated the other, more benign
definition.
Quantz was the first psychologist to use an evolutionary approach to
understand human bonds to trees. His sources included anthropological studies of native
peoples from around the world; interviews with children; and the works of poets, novelists,
and lyricists.
The premise of Quantz's article was that the usefulness and beauty of trees are insufficient
explanations for humankind's long and deep attachment; therefore, one must seek an internal
(i.e., biological) explanation. He uses multiple, independent occurrences of the same myth
among different people and among children as evidence suggesting a biological origin of the
bond between humans and trees.
It is not necessary to accept this premise to appreciate the range and
consistency of the examples Quantz provides. He proposes that "through the period of a few
thousand generations, during which the surest means of safety from enemies was flight into
the trees, there would gradually grow up in the human race an instinctive feeling for trees
as natural protectors" (p. 501). This is very similar to the biophilia theory of Kellert
and Wilson (1993), which maintains that many human preferences were shaped over millennia
through interactions with features of the environment found helpful to the survival of the
species during its early development. Through a process of gene-environment co-evolution,
the multiple strands of environmental stimuli become part of culture. Culture allows a
rapid adjustment to environmental changes through adaptations invented and transmitted
without precise genetic prescription. Even when humans are removed from the stimuli
originally provoking an emotional response, biophilia theory maintains that the connections
remain in latent form and find expression as preferences and aversions.
|
International Society of Arboriculture
