Our Schizophrenic Societies Progress By Knowledge But Survive On Inspiration Derived From The Very Beliefs Which That Knowledge Erodes.

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Our schizophrenic societies progress by knowledge but survive on inspiration
derived from the very beliefs which that knowledge erodes. I suggest that the
paradox can be at least intellectually resolved, not all at once but eventually
and with consequences difficult to perfect, if we pay due attention to the
sociobiology of religion. Although the manifestations of the religious
experiences are resplendent and multidimensional and so complicated that the
finest of psychoanalyst and philosophers get lost in their labyrinth, I
believe that religious practices can be mapped onto the two dimensions of
genetic advantage and evolutionary change.
-- Edward O. Wilson, "On Human Nature"

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