E.O. Wilson has died • Hacker News Board

Re: E.O. Wilson has died

#81

Post by reactspa » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:42 AM UTC

pphysch wrote: post #59

joak wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just finishing Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life a 2016 book in which he proposes that half of the Earth's surface should be designated a human-free natural reserve to preserve biodiversity. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Earth A great read, I think we should make real his proposal. I believe we will eventually.

How would you determine which humans get displaced to make room for "human-free" reserves?

I think it'll follow a familiar pattern.

E.g., Barbara Streisand lives on a mansion on the coast. And she also supports an NGO that is focused on preventing any new construction on the coast. For the environment.

More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

Re: E.O. Wilson has died

#82

Post by reactspa » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:43 AM UTC

Jugurtha wrote: post #32

E.O. Wilson comes up when you get into the "actor model"[0], especially with this quote: > “A colony of ants is more than just an aggregate of insects that are living together. One ant is no ant.” Many publications and articles on the topic of actors reference it at some point. - [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor_model

Can someone please help clarify why Sociobiology is so controversial? He was called a racist for applying it to humans.

Re: E.O. Wilson has died

#83

Post by Barrin92 » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:58 AM UTC

reactspa wrote: post #82

Jugurtha wrote: post #32

E.O. Wilson comes up when you get into the "actor model"[0], especially with this quote: > “A colony of ants is more than just an aggregate of insects that are living together. One ant is no ant.” Many publications and articles on the topic of actors reference it at some point. - [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor_model

Can someone please help clarify why Sociobiology is so controversial? He was called a racist for applying it to humans.

because any sort of material, sociological or biological account of human society runs into a wall of Enlightenment-era type individualism and people don't like that.

I mean in terms of people using it to advance some kind of racial politics it's actually obvious why it's offensive but one of the funnier E.O. Wilson moments I recall is a Youtube video where one commenter accused him of promoting communism by means of teaching about eusociality in ants.