The Social Conquest of Earth by Edward O. Wilson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
In this well written book, biologist Edward O Wilson would recalibrate our sense of being from individualists to a group. He notes that the balance of being human is a constant tension, one that suspends us between being too individualistic (like lone predators) and too group oriented (like ants, which are basically one individual in many bodies). He traces the development of humans as coarising with language and social development so that at a more abstract level, it’s not consciousness that develops but rather social being which develops of which consciousness is but a very localized piece.
I am not certain that Wilson gets across his aesthetic clearly. I think that if he were to speak more openly about what he is drawing, people would be off put. But by trying to maintain one foot in science, and the other in terms of the social complexity he would compare us to (ants, bees, lions), he comes fairly close. Part of our problem in understanding this eusocial view of humankind lies in how we often consider ourselves a competitors. In capitalism there is little room for community; or rather, what community does exist exists at an unconscious level. WE do the community without thinking. We follow each other, parrot each other’s gestures and copy one another linguistically, vocally, and physically as a matter of calibration.
In a way, this book reminds me of the work of the speculative work of Julian Jaynes Origin-Consciousness-Breakdown-Bicameral-Mind, although Jaynes was far more aggressive and wide reaching in his exploration of the concept than Wilson. Wilson’s main emphasis however isn’t on the science, although he is careful to always cite science at every turn. What Wilson is more after is a high level abstract vision of how to organically consider what humans are, what we do and where we would go.
I think his emphasis on Paul Gauguin is meant to emphasis this inquiry, although it gets a little lost in the light citations and various explorations in science. Obviously this is not a scientific part; the citations are not overboard. But Wilson is trying to show us that he’s not running on crazy here either. It’s a difficult balance to strike, and I am not sure that Wilson does as compelling a job as he means to. Still, this book is an interesting look at an old question, and not all that difficult to read. Worth taking a look, if the topic interests you.
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