Of course, there is no reconciliation between the theory of evolution by natural selection and the traditional religious view of the origin of the human mind.
E. O. WILSONOf course, there is no reconciliation between the theory of evolution by natural selection and the traditional religious view of the origin of the human mind.
E. O. WILSONEvery major religion today is a winner in the Darwinian struggle waged among cultures, and none ever flourished by tolerating its rivals.
E. O. WILSONIf history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth.
E. O. WILSONAim high. Behave honorably. Prepare to be alone at times, and to endure failure.
E. O. WILSONWe have decommissioned natural selection and must now look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become.
E. O. WILSONThe two major challenges for the 21st century are to improve the economic situation of the majority and save as much of the planet as we can.
E. O. WILSONOne thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.
E. O. WILSONThe moral imperative of humanism is the endeavor alone, whether successful or not, provided the effort is honorable and failure memorable.
E. O. WILSONWhat’s been gratifying is to live long enough to see molecular biology and evolutionary biology growing toward each other and uniting in research efforts.
E. O. WILSONThe world depends on fungi, because they are major players in the cycling of materials and energy around the world.
E. O. WILSONReligious belief itself is an adaptation that has evolved because we’re hard-wired to form tribalistic religions.
E. O. WILSONAn individual ant, even though it has a brain about a millionth of a size of a human being’s, can learn a maze; the kind we use is a simple rat maze in a laboratory. They can learn it about one-half as fast as a rat.
E. O. WILSONThe variety of genes on the planet in viruses exceeds, or is likely to exceed, that in all of the rest of life combined.
E. O. WILSONReligious beliefs evolved by group-selection, tribe competing against tribe, and the illogic of religions is not a weakness but their essential strength.
E. O. WILSONA very Faustian choice is upon us: whether to accept our corrosive and risky behavior as the unavoidable price of population and economic growth, or to take stock of ourselves and search for a new environmental ethic.
E. O. WILSONNature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.
E. O. WILSON