Honors College Art & Science of Emotions Fall 2017 (1:20 p.m.) Happiness Group Journal | Page 14

Wilson. The term biophilia refers
to a passionate love of life or
living systems. The biophilia
hypothesis supports the idea that
humans have an inborn or
instinctive tendency to pursue
togetherness with nature and
other forms of life. Hence, by
showing the nature scene as being
outside of where the individual in
the painting normally finds
himself or herself in everyday life
shows what he or she is naturally
longing for, though usually unable
to achieve due to other demands
of everyday life. This supports the
overall theme of
“The Happiness Paradox.”
The hope is that the viewer’s
eyes will immediately be drawn to
the landscape portion of the
picture since all humans innately
love nature. They will first notice
the large mountain range and
blue skies in the background and
then their eyes will be drawn
downward to the field of vibrant
pink flowers. See image below.
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