Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.
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.
More E. O. Wilson Quotes
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Ants are the dominant insects of the world, and they’ve had a great impact on habitats almost all over the land surface of the world for more than 50-million years.
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Theology made no provision for evolution. The biblical authors had missed the most important revelation of all! Could it be that they were not really privy to the thoughts of God?
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Every kid has a bug period… I never grew out of mine.
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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.
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The 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.
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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.
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Persist! The world needs all you can give.
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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.
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If history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth.
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The one process now going on that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats.
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If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.
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Change will come slowly, across generations, because old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.
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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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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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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. WILSON






