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. WilsonIndividual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.
E. O. WilsonIt's the technique, I think, of writing a novel that is difficult for a nonfiction writer.
E. O. WilsonThe 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.
E. O. WilsonThe love of complexity without reductionism makes art; the love of complexity with reductionism makes science.
E. O. WilsonToday [the voice of women] is being heard loud and clear. But I do not read the welcome triumph of feminism, social, economic, and creative, as a brief for postmodernism. The advance, while opening new avenues of expression and liberating deep pools of talent, has not exploded human nature into little pieces. Instead, it has set the stage for a fuller exploration of the universal traits that unite humanity.
E. O. Wilson