WHO SPEAKS FOR THE TREES?

I turned on the PBS channel one night to catch the last few minutes of a two hour special on E.O. Wilson. Ii was too good to miss so I ordered a DVD copy. Beginning with Biology Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, his list of titles and awards runs off the page. In short, he is an 87 year-old researcher who follows the data wherever it leads. The world’s leading authority on ants and Sociobiology, he coined the term, ‘Biodiversity’ before environmentalism became a hot topic.  

  From individual ants to ant colonies, to surrounding ecosystems, he couldn’t ignore behavior parallels between insect societies, brains (ganglia) no bigger than the head of a pin and big brain, human cultures. In the 70’s & 80’s, leading Social Scientists criticized his theories and urged him, stick to insects. Wilson challenged popular ideas that nurture was the primary force in shaping human behavior while nature’s influence was only minimal. In the last thirty years, his predictions have been substantiated and his critics have been stilled. In the program, one of the contributing experts was Jonathan Haidt, one of my favorite writers, an expert on the evolution of ethics and morality. From different directions, different sets of data; they arrive at many of the same conclusions. Wilson doesn’t mince words: “The real problem with humanity is that we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and God-like technology.” 

The program ended on a positive note. The old entomologist is engaged with environmental projects around the world, hopeful that we can get it right and happy to be sharing his experience with anxious, eager, young scientists. I used to take comfort each morning knowing that Carl Sagan was waking up to the same new day. Sagan, a renowned astrophysicist, could communicate complex, scientific ideas in simple language. His appeal bridged the gap between hard core science and the lay community. He said, “Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.” When he died I wondered, like the Lorax, who will speak for the trees; who will be that bridge? Now-days it is E.O. Wilson who makes me feel good, speaking simply, still collecting and naming new species of insects, still pushing the bubble against knee-jerk, tribalistic, wannabe-wisdom. 

What I like about science is its simplicity. You don’t have to be a math wizard or a computer geek. What is required is some level of curiosity, patient persistence and integrity. The discipline side of science is unforgiving; you must follow it or what comes out the other end is worthless. You have to know as much as possible about whatever it is you pursue and that may be more work than you are willing to invest. You have to be meticulous in the way you observe, collect and analyze data, and you may lack that discipline. What you learn may not be what you hoped for but that’s how it works. The task is never finished; we amend what we know or believe with what we have learned and move on. There are no ultimate solutions, only the best available. But Wilson is right; we are beset with Stone Age fears. Our institutions (religion & government) have not kept up with God-like technology; human society requires absolute answers that make us feel good, and we want them right now. Even God-like technology moves too slowly for anxious soul savers and self serving chiefs. They need something in hand that will save us from ourselves, save us from the next imminent calamity. After attributing most of the world’s problems to tribalistic religion he was asked if he was an atheist. “No,” he replied “I’m not an atheist, I’m a scientist.”