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.
True science discovers God in an ever-increasing degree β as though God were waiting behind every door opened by science.
The introduction of the cipher 0 or the group concept was general nonsense too, and mathematics was more or less stagnating for thousands of years because nobody was around to take such childish steps.
While NASA talks about 'Are we alone?' as a number one question, they are putting zero money into searching for intelligent life. There's a big disconnect there.
Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year.
Reply when questioned on the safety of the polio vaccine he developed: It is safe, and you can't get safer than safe.
Inside of a living cell there are thousands of proteins that enable it to make more of itself and make your malaria drug, for instance. We don't understand those. We don't understand how they work together.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.