The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely.
E. O. WILSONIndividual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.
More E. O. Wilson Quotes
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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 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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I tend to believe that religious dogma is a consequence of evolution.
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People need a sacred narrative. They must have a sense of larger purpose, in one form or another, however intellectualized. They will find a way to keep ancestral spirits alive.
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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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It’s always been a great survival value for people to believe they belong to a superior tribe. That’s just in human relationships.
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There is no better high than discovery.
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Ants are the leading removers of dead creatures on the land. And the rest of life is substantially dependent upon them.
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Jehovah had nothing to say to Moses and the others about the care of the planet. He had plenty to say about tribal loyalty and conquest.
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One thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.
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Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.
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Without a trace of irony I can say I have been blessed with brilliant enemies. I owe them a great debt, because they redoubled my energies and drove me in new directions.
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Ideas emerge when a part of the real or imagined world is studied for its own sake.
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Science for its part will test relentlessly every assumption about the human condition.
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Willing to try to get a better atmosphere through a demonstration of democratic principles, fairness and cooperation, a better product, those will win in the end.
E. O. WILSON