There is a hereditary selective advantage to membership in a powerful group united by devout belief and purpose. Even when individuals subordinate themselves and risk death in common cause, their genes are more likely to be transmitted to the next generation than are those of competing groups who lack equivalent resolve.
More Quotes from Edward Wilson:
Human beings live -- literally live, as if life is equated with the mind -- by symbols, particularly words, because the brain is constructed to process information almost exclusively in their terms.Edward Wilson
In the end ... success or failure will come down to an ethical decision, one on which those now living will be judged for generations to come.
Edward Wilson
It is surpassingly strange, ... put their common sense on hold.
Edward Wilson
We propose this with great caution, ... The evidence, after all, only applies strongly to insects. Human altruism and tight-knit societies may well have evolved differently. But if it is true, it would help us understand the group aggression and warfare so widespread today. Those who study human biology and behavior should take a new look at this possibility.
Edward Wilson
Earth is a little-known planet. We have little appreciation for what we're doing. ... We are flying blind,
Edward Wilson
Darwin's dice have rolled badly for Earth. The human species is, in a word, an environmental abnormality. Perhaps a law of evolution is that intelligence usually extinguishes itself.
Edward Wilson
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Richard Masur
As a species we are always hungry for new knowledge.
Chaim Potok
How hard it is to make your thoughts look anything but imbecile fools when you paint them with ink on paper.
Olive Schreiner