Can Trees Fight Crime?

Was it all designed? Researchers have long disputed the function of dreams: while the “Threat Simulation Theory” poses dreams as an evolutionary defense mechanism against threatening events that might take place in waking life, the

“Social Simulation Theory” considers dreams rehearsals for waking social perceptions and interactions.

The idea of dreams as simulation-generators underlies many theories, but the question of what dreams simulate remains up for debate. Cognitive neuropsychologist Antii Revonsuo has proposed the new paradigm of “World-simulation,” which suggests that dreams simulate the world rather than experiences. 3 Our brains do not write a story for us and make us live through it, rather they design the world in which we have the experience, and we are set free in that world to have the experience. When we need an experience, whether to prepare for threats or social life, our brains create a world in which we are expected to have that experience. Those shiny apples on the tree were, in fact, designed, but your experience was born out of it. The method of our brains may be adapted when we are after creating experiences, but it can also help us when we want to prevent experiences. You wake up, “what a dream!” you say to yourself and check the clock. You still have half an hour, good. After a slowpaced breakfast, you grab your phone.

12:30? The alarm clock must have been broken. Now you are late, unusually late, and the rest of the day will be torturous. Flash forward, you come back home late, feeling mad at the deviant alarm clock. Preventing this experience by designing a world in which this experience does not take place seems easy: fix the clock. But what if the clock keeps getting broken, as it is the case with the clocks inside of our heads? This is called crime.

So far, we haven't been able to prevent crime effectively:

“Crime permeates our social fabric. It always has because we are all deviant and deviance is an underpinning of criminality. Whether you believe people are born criminals or socialized to become so, a constant among the tremor of our tumultuous society exists the fear of victimization by the criminal element. Even more disturbing exists the idea that any one of us—at any time—can cross the line and become

‘criminal.’ 1 Meanwhile, the justice system locks criminals away with the view that you are either a criminal or not. Discentive power of incarceration is great; nobody

Our brains do not write a story for us and make us live through it, rather they design the world in which we have the experience, and we are set free in that world to have the experience.

wants to go to jail, but the fundamental inconsistency with incarceration as a preventive measure is revealed once someone “crosses the line” in a split-second decision. Robert Sapolsky, a neurobiologist working on human behavior, argues that a “single split-second decision can be years in the making,” as shown by “the biological proof that our decisions and actions are influenced by a combination of our DNA, brain, hormones, nervous system, how we grew up, and what happened while we were still growing in our mother's uterus”. 4 The collection of factors that cause crime will not simply cease to exist during a criminal’s sentence. Similarly, we cannot prevent crime with incarceration alone.

Preventing crime with incarceration is as effective as if you stormed into your room, grabbed your alarm clock, and with the most judgemental and punitive voice of yours, explained how its actions ruined your day. To teach it a lesson, you put it in a drawer for a week. When its sentence is over you take the clock out and set the alarm, confident that the clock will work tomorrow morning. If our brains shape our experiences in our dreams by designing the world around us accordingly, why not do the same in waking life? Research from The University of Chicago Environmental Neuroscience Lab (ENL) helps us better understand how: “With a better understanding and quantification of the relationships between the brain and the environment, [ENL] hopes that [their] research will influence the designing of physical environments in ways that will optimize human mental health, physical health, and overall well-being.” One study inspects the relationship between crime and greenspaces on the heels of previous studies that proved a negative association between neighborhood green spaces and criminal activity. Using cell phone mobility data, Kathryn E. Schertz outlines two different mechanisms that together account for this relationship. On the psychological level, urban greenspaces contribute to individuals’ ability to pay attention to their surroundings and exhibit self-control. In addition to lowering crime rates, this results in better school and work performance for residents. Secondly, on the sociological level, urban greenspaces regulate crime by increasing street activity, which in turn results in effective guardianship and increased collaboration by local residents. The positive outcome is twofold again: lower crime rates and greater social capital for the area. 2

[A] “single split-second decision can be years in the making,” as shown by “the biological proof that our decisions and actions are influenced by a combination of our DNA, brain, hormones, nervous system, how we grew up, and what happened while we were still growing in our mother's uterus”. 4