Science, through psychology, has allowed for the examination of the behaviors of humans and offers explanation towards many actions, wants, desires, and life patterns. In Edward O. Wilson’s book on human nature, he discusses the behavior patterns of humans involving kin, parental investment, mating, status, territory, and contractual agreement. Wilson denounces on conceptual agreements, “all mammals, including humans, form societies based on a conjunction of selfish interests. Unlike the worker castes of ants and other social insects, they resist committing their bodies and services to the common good” (Wilson 361). Wilson who is also an entomologist, seeks out to simplify human behavior and compare it to the difference in the behavior of ants. This simplification is a common theme throughout Wilson’s book. He paints human behavior as unavoidable, undeniable, and almost instinctual. Psychological patterns and behaviors like this, help us further understand the natural world and the way species live amongst each other and how they compare with one another. Just like Darwin explaining the relationship of evolution with the changes in environmental resources, Wilson explains the relationship of changing environmental resources with animal behavior. Wilson writes, “biologists have determined that territoriality is not unavoidable during social evolution. It is apparently entirely absent in many animal species. The territorial instinct arises during evolution when some vital resource serves as a “density-dependent factor.” (Wilson 360). This not only helps us understand that territoriality isn’t a trait that is born with, but a trait that arises due to the threatening of the welfare of species. Despite Wilson’s great contributions towards human nature, it didn’t fail to arise controversy. Some readers and other scholars felt this oversimplification “[assaulted] the
Science, through psychology, has allowed for the examination of the behaviors of humans and offers explanation towards many actions, wants, desires, and life patterns. In Edward O. Wilson’s book on human nature, he discusses the behavior patterns of humans involving kin, parental investment, mating, status, territory, and contractual agreement. Wilson denounces on conceptual agreements, “all mammals, including humans, form societies based on a conjunction of selfish interests. Unlike the worker castes of ants and other social insects, they resist committing their bodies and services to the common good” (Wilson 361). Wilson who is also an entomologist, seeks out to simplify human behavior and compare it to the difference in the behavior of ants. This simplification is a common theme throughout Wilson’s book. He paints human behavior as unavoidable, undeniable, and almost instinctual. Psychological patterns and behaviors like this, help us further understand the natural world and the way species live amongst each other and how they compare with one another. Just like Darwin explaining the relationship of evolution with the changes in environmental resources, Wilson explains the relationship of changing environmental resources with animal behavior. Wilson writes, “biologists have determined that territoriality is not unavoidable during social evolution. It is apparently entirely absent in many animal species. The territorial instinct arises during evolution when some vital resource serves as a “density-dependent factor.” (Wilson 360). This not only helps us understand that territoriality isn’t a trait that is born with, but a trait that arises due to the threatening of the welfare of species. Despite Wilson’s great contributions towards human nature, it didn’t fail to arise controversy. Some readers and other scholars felt this oversimplification “[assaulted] the