Well, let me tell you, ants are the dominant insects. They make up as much as a quarter of the biomass of all insects in the world. They are the principal predators. They’re the cemetery workers.
E. O. WILSONOne thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.
More E. O. Wilson Quotes
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Our brain is mapping the world. Often that map is distorted, but it’s a map with constant immediate sensory input.
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The essence of humanity’s spiritual dilemma is that we evolved genetically to accept one truth and discovered another. Is there a way to erase the dilemma, to resolve the contradictions between the transcendentalist and the empiricist world views?
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Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.
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Ants make up two-thirds of the biomass of all the insects. There are millions of species of organisms and we know almost nothing about them.
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If 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.
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One thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.
E. O. WILSON -
Religious beliefs evolved by group-selection, tribe competing against tribe, and the illogic of religions is not a weakness but their essential strength.
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We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom.
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Religious belief itself is an adaptation that has evolved because we’re hard-wired to form tribalistic religions.
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The variety of genes on the planet in viruses exceeds, or is likely to exceed, that in all of the rest of life combined.
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What’s been gratifying is to live long enough to see molecular biology and evolutionary biology growing toward each other and uniting in research efforts.
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Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds… is not productive.
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By any reasonable measure of achievement, the faith of the Enlightenment thinkers in science was justified.
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True character arises from a deeper well than religion.
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People respect nonfiction but they read novels.
E. O. WILSON