By any reasonable measure of achievement, the faith of the Enlightenment thinkers in science was justified.
E. O. WILSONBy any reasonable measure of achievement, the faith of the Enlightenment thinkers in science was justified.
E. O. WILSONIt’s always been a great survival value for people to believe they belong to a superior tribe. That’s just in human relationships.
E. O. WILSONIf we were to wipe out insects alone on this planet, the rest of life and humanity with it would mostly disappear from the land. Within a few months.
E. O. WILSONOur brain is mapping the world. Often that map is distorted, but it’s a map with constant immediate sensory input.
E. O. WILSONThis is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.
E. O. WILSONBlind faith, no matter how passionately expressed, will not suffice.
E. O. WILSONScience and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds… is not productive.
E. O. WILSONIn some ways, I had a traditional ‘old South’ upbringing, meaning that I spent some time in a military school, and acquired an
E. O. WILSONWe have decommissioned natural selection and must now look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become.
E. O. WILSONPolitical ideology can corrupt the mind, and science.
E. O. WILSONWe are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom.
E. O. WILSONChange will come slowly, across generations, because old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.
E. O. WILSONIdeas emerge when a part of the real or imagined world is studied for its own sake.
E. O. WILSONNature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.
E. O. WILSONWe should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.
E. O. WILSONAnts are the leading removers of dead creatures on the land. And the rest of life is substantially dependent upon them.
E. O. WILSON