An 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. 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
-
-
In 2010, my two Harvard mathematician colleagues and I dismantled kin-selection theory, which was the reigning theory of the origin of altruism at the time.
E. O. WILSON -
The world depends on fungi, because they are major players in the cycling of materials and energy around the world.
E. O. WILSON -
Aim high. Behave honorably. Prepare to be alone at times, and to endure failure.
E. O. WILSON -
I tend to believe that religious dogma is a consequence of evolution.
E. O. WILSON -
Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.
E. O. WILSON -
Political ideology can corrupt the mind, and science.
E. O. WILSON -
Change will come slowly, across generations, because old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.
E. O. WILSON -
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.
E. O. WILSON -
In some ways, I had a traditional ‘old South’ upbringing, meaning that I spent some time in a military school, and acquired an
E. O. WILSON -
It’s obvious that the key problem facing humanity in the coming century is how to bring a better quality of life – for 8 billion or more people – without wrecking the environment entirely in the attempt.
E. O. WILSON -
I had reached a point in my career in which I was ready to try something new in my writing, and the idea of a novel has always been in the back of my mind.
E. O. WILSON -
We ought to recognize that religious strife is not the consequence of differences among people. It’s about conflicts between creation stories.
E. O. WILSON -
Because the living environment is what really sustains us.
E. O. WILSON -
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.
E. O. WILSON -
True character arises from a deeper well than religion.
E. O. WILSON