The Complicated Legacy of E. O. Wilson – Scientific American

We must reckon with his and other scientists’ racist ideas if we want an equitable future

Source: The Complicated Legacy of E. O. Wilson – Scientific American

Opinion:

The famous ant-man (no, I’m not talking about Adam and the Ants or a Marvel comics character) passed away over the holidays. I must admit that from watching a video featuring him and his work, I felt he was at times unforgivably insensitive, like so many scientists who are cruel to living beings in the name of science.

The above-linked article critiques E. O . Wilson’s work from a different angle, reminding us that ant colonies are not equivalent to human civilizations so we should not make simplistic comparisons between the two.

This is a point I also made over half a decade ago, although I expressed it somewhat differently from the Scientific American piece:

Anyone with enough elementary science and logic will recognize that Wilson’s interpretation of the experimental results reveals an unjustified leap from a tiny to a huge frame of reference. » Source

Animation created from Lord of the Ants, 2008 Windfall Films. (Fair Use / Fair Dealing Rationale). — Animation – 2 – from Lord of the Ants, 2008 Windfall Films. (Fair Use / Fair Dealing Rationale).

For my full critique, see my 2015 article and disturbing video clips I posted to help make my point:

Saving the Earth with unsavory science?

Yes, it is 6 or 7 years ago that I posted this. I can’t help it if I am often way ahead of my time. If I was just a simple regurgitator of already existing ideas, I would probably be a university professor.