The search for knowledge is in our genes. It was put there by our distant ancestors who spread across the world, and it's never going to be quenched.
Interpretation
The pursuit of knowledge is an innate trait passed down through generations and is fundamental to human nature.
E. O. Wilson expresses the idea that our drive to acquire knowledge and explore the world is not just a personal ambition but a deep-seated trait embedded in our genetic makeup. This quest for understanding has been instilled in us by our ancestors, who sought to learn about their environment, and it continues to fuel humanity's journey forward, suggesting that this thirst for knowledge is both enduring and essential.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of education, one might quote this to emphasize our inherent desire to learn.
Consider the nematode roundworm, the most abundant of all animals. Four out of five animals on Earth are nematode worms β if all solid materials except nematode worms were to be eliminated, you could still see the ghostly outline of most of it in nematode worms.
Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.
The worst thing that will probably happen-in fact is already well underway-is not energy depletion, economic collapse, conventional war, or the expansion of totalitarian governments. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired in a few generations. The one process now going on that will take millions of years to correct is loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.
Humanity today is like a waking dreamer, caught between the fantasies of sleep and the chaos of the real world. The mind seeks but cannot find the precise place and hour. We have created a Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology. We thrash about. We are terribly confused by the mere fact of our existence, and a danger to ourselves and to the rest of life.
Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.
An Armageddon is approaching at the beginning of the third millennium. But it is not the cosmic war and fiery collapse of mankind foretold in sacred scripture. It is the wreckage of the planet by an exuberantly plentiful and ingenious humanity.
People are going to buy cheap fertilizer so they can grow enough crops to feed themselves, which will be increasingly difficult with climate change.
If we are to define science, ... it does not consist so much in knowing, nor even in "organized knowledge," as it does in diligent inquiry into truth for truth's sake, without any sort of axe to grind, nor for the sake of the delight of contemplating it, but from an impulse to penetrate into the reason of things.
Science and fiction both begin with similar questions: What if? Why? How does it all work? But they focus on different areas of life on earth.
The strongest arguments prove nothing so long as the conclusions are not verified by experience. Experimental science is the queen of sciences and the goal of all speculation.
Scientists must venture outside their comfort zones to show the public how cool - and how important - their work really is.
Even though NASA tries to simulate launch, and we practice in simulators, it's not the same - it's not even close to the same.
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