Monday 17 May 2010

us versus them


In this Living on Earth interview, recommended in a comment today, E O Wilson elaborates on the similarities between humans and ants, which he has dramatised in his newly-published novel Anthill:

Wilson: It's true that many of the problems that arise in the human condition come from having strict group identity, it appears to be a deep instinct of people to belong to a group and the tendency then for us to not only belong to a group and get the security of belonging to a group, but for groups to be in contest with one another in one form or another. And for us to have powerful emotional response to our group—

Interviewer:  Not just us, but us versus them is the—

Wilson: Us versus them is the binary—ants have a parallel.

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