Religious beliefs evolved by group-selection, tribe competing against tribe, and the illogic of religions is not a weakness but their essential strength.
E. O. WILSONScience and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds… is not productive.
More E. O. Wilson Quotes
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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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If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago.
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Persist! The world needs all you can give.
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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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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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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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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.
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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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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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Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.
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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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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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There is no better high than discovery.
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Political ideology can corrupt the mind, and science.
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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