Editing E. O. Wilson (section)

==Spiritual and political beliefs==

===Scientific humanism===
Wilson coined the phrase ''scientific humanism'' as "the only [[worldview]] compatible with science's growing knowledge of the real world and the laws of nature".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://harvardmagazine.com/2005/11/intelligent-evolution.html|title=Intelligent Evolution|last=Wilson|first=Edward O.|date=November 1, 2005|website=Harvard Magazine|language=en|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> Wilson argued that it is best suited to improve the human condition. In 2003, he was one of the signers of the [[Humanism and Its Aspirations|''Humanist Manifesto'']].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |title=Notable Signers |publisher=American Humanist Association |work=Humanism and Its Aspirations |access-date=October 6, 2012 |archive-date=October 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005105825/http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===God and religion===
On the question of God, Wilson described his position as "provisional deism"<ref>''The Creation''{{page needed|date=April 2014}}</ref> and explicitly denied the label of "[[Atheism|atheist]]", preferring "[[Agnosticism|agnostic]]".<ref name="slate">{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2015/02/e_o_wilson_on_the_meaning_of_human_existence_warnings_about_earth_s_future.html |title=Why Do We Ignore Warnings About Earth's Future? |last=Sarchet |first=Penny |date=February 1, 2015 |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |quote=In fact, I'm not an atheist&nbsp;... I would even say I'm agnostic}}</ref> He explained his faith as a trajectory away from traditional beliefs: "I drifted away from the church, not definitively agnostic or atheistic, just [[Baptist]] & Christian no more."<ref name="con" /> Wilson argued that belief in God and the rituals of religion are products of [[evolutionary origin of religions|evolution]].<ref>Human Nature{{page needed|date=April 2014}}</ref> He argued that they should not be rejected or dismissed, but further investigated by science to better understand their significance to human nature. In his book ''The Creation'', Wilson wrote that scientists ought to "offer the hand of friendship" to religious leaders and build an alliance with them, stating that "Science and religion are two of the most potent forces on Earth and they should come together to save the creation."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2006/06/naturalist-e-o-wilson-is-optimistic/ |title=Naturalist E.O. Wilson is optimistic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324162927/http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/06.15/03-biodiversity.html |archive-date=March 24, 2008 |magazine=[[Harvard Gazette]] |date=June 15, 2006}}</ref>

Wilson made an appeal to the religious community on the lecture circuit at Midland College, Texas, for example, and that "the appeal received a 'massive reply'", that a covenant had been written and that a "partnership will work to a substantial degree as time goes on".<ref>''Scientist says there is hope to save planet'' {{Cite web |url=http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2009/09/18/news/top_stories/doc4ab31071978e4063758641.txt |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 21, 2009 |archive-date=January 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129122836/http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2009/09/18/news/top_stories/doc4ab31071978e4063758641.txt |url-status=dead }} mywesttexas.com, September 18, 2009</ref>

In a ''[[New Scientist]]'' interview published on January 21, 2015, however, Wilson said that religious faith is "dragging us down", and:
{{blockquote|I would say that for the sake of human progress, the best thing we could possibly do would be to diminish, to the point of eliminating, religious faiths. But certainly not eliminating the natural yearnings of our species or the asking of these great questions.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530050-400-e-o-wilson-religious-faith-is-dragging-us-down/|title=E. O. Wilson: Religious faith is dragging us down|date=January 21, 2015|magazine=[[New Scientist]]|author=Penny Sarchet|access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref>}}

===Ecology===
Wilson said that, if he could start his life over he would work in [[microbial ecology]], when discussing the reinvigoration of his original fields of study since the 1960s.<ref>{{cite video |people=Edward O. Wilson |date=2008 |title=Lord of the Ants |url=http://documentaryhive.com/lord-of-the-ants/ |format=documentary film |medium=television |work=[[Nova (American TV series)|Nova]] |publisher=[[WGBH-TV|WGBH]] |access-date=March 1, 2009 |archive-date=October 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015224600/http://documentaryhive.com/lord-of-the-ants/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He studied the [[mass extinction]]s of the 20th century and their relationship to modern society, and identifying mass extinction as the greatest threat to [[Future of Earth|Earth's future]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ruse |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Ruse |date=20 July 1998 |title=E.O. Wilson |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-O-Wilson |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref> In 1998 argued for an ecological approach at the Capitol:

{{blockquote|Now when you cut a forest, an [[ancient forest]] in particular, you are not just removing a lot of big trees and a few birds fluttering around in the [[Canopy (forest)|canopy]]. You are drastically imperiling a vast array of [[species]] within a few square miles of you. The number of these species may go to tens of thousands.&nbsp;... Many of them are still unknown to science, and science has not yet discovered the key role undoubtedly played in the maintenance of that [[ecosystem]], as in the case of [[Fungus|fungi]], [[microorganism]]s, and many of the insects.<ref name="slide2">{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Edward Osborne |date=28 April 1998 |url=http://www.saveamericasforests.org/wilson/second.htm |title=Slide show |page=2 |website=saveamericasforests.org |access-date=13 November 2008}}</ref>}}

From the late 1970s Wilson was actively involved in the global conservation of biodiversity, contributing and promoting research. In 1984 he published ''Biophilia'', a work that explored the evolutionary and psychological basis of humanity's attraction to the natural environment. This work introduced the word [[Biophilia hypothesis|biophilia]] which influenced the shaping of modern conservation ethics. In 1988 Wilson edited the ''BioDiversity'' volume, based on the proceedings of the first US national conference on the subject, which also introduced the term [[biodiversity]] into the language. This work was very influential in creating the modern field of biodiversity studies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation » E.O. Wilson|url=https://eowilsonfoundation.org/e-o-wilson/|access-date=December 27, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2011, Wilson led scientific expeditions to the [[Gorongosa National Park]] in [[Mozambique]] and the [[archipelago]]s of [[Vanuatu]] and [[New Caledonia]] in the southwest Pacific. Wilson was part of the international [[conservation movement]], as a consultant to Columbia University's [[Earth Institute]], as a director of the [[American Museum of Natural History]], [[Conservation International]], [[The Nature Conservancy]] and the [[World Wildlife Fund]].<ref name="Academy of Achievement" />

Understanding the scale of the extinction crisis led him to advocate for forest protection,<ref name="slide2" /> including the "Act to Save America's Forests", first introduced in 1998 and reintroduced in 2008, but never passed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saveamericasforests.org/congress/congress.htm |title=Congress – The Act to Save America's Forests |website=Saveamericasforests.org |access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref> The [[Forests Now Declaration]] called for new markets-based mechanisms to protect tropical forests.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalcanopy.org/projects/forests-now-declaration|title=The Forests NOW Declaration {{!}} Global Canopy Programme|website=globalcanopy.org|language=en|access-date=January 20, 2018|archive-date=January 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121071613/https://globalcanopy.org/projects/forests-now-declaration|url-status=dead}}</ref> Wilson once said destroying a rainforest for economic gain was like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.<ref name="the Guardian-2021">{{Cite news |date=December 27, 2021 |title=Edward O Wilson, naturalist known as a 'modern-day Darwin', dies aged 92 |language=en |work=the Guardian |agency=Reuters |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/27/edward-o-wilson-naturalist-modern-day-darwin-dies |access-date=December 28, 2021}}</ref> In 2014, Wilson called for setting aside 50% of Earth's surface for other species to thrive in as the only possible strategy to solve the extinction crisis. The idea became the basis for his book ''[[Half-Earth]]'' (2016) and for the Half-Earth Project of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.<ref name="Alberts">{{cite news |last1=Alberts |first1=Elizabeth Claire |title=In Half-Earth Project, a full-on bid to get countries to protect biodiversity |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/in-half-earth-project-a-full-on-bid-to-get-countries-to-protect-biodiversity/ |access-date=10 August 2022 |work=Mongabay Environmental News |date=6 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="Hiss">{{cite web |first=Tony |last=Hiss  |date=2014 |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-world-really-set-aside-half-planet-wildlife-180952379/?no-ist |title=Can the World Really Set Aside Half of the Planet for Wildlife? &#124; Science &#124; Smithsonian |website=Smithsonianmag.com |access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref> Wilson's influence regarding ecology through popular science was discussed by [[Alan G. Gross]] in ''The Scientific Sublime'' (2018).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gross|first=Alan G.|author-link=Alan G. Gross|chapter=E. O. Wilson: The Biophilic Sublime|date=August 2, 2018|title=The Scientific Sublime|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|doi=10.1093/oso/9780190637774.003.0017|isbn=978-0-19-063777-4}}</ref>

Wilson was instrumental in launching the [[Encyclopedia of Life]] (EOL)<ref>{{Cite web|title=E.O. Wilson founds the Encyclopedia of Life|url=https://www.ted.com/participate/ted-prize/prize-winning-wishes/encyclopedia-of-life|access-date=December 27, 2020|website=www.ted.com|language=en|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115151202/https://www.ted.com/participate/ted-prize/prize-winning-wishes/encyclopedia-of-life|url-status=dead}}</ref> initiative with the goal of creating a global database to include information on the 1.9 million [[species]] recognized by science. Currently, it includes information on practically all known species. This open and searchable digital repository for organism traits, measurements, interactions and other data has more than 300 international partners and countless scientists providing global users' access to knowledge of life on Earth. For his part, Wilson discovered and described more than 400 species of ants.<ref>{{Cite web|title=E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation » The Perfect Gift for E.O. Wilson|url=https://eowilsonfoundation.org/the-perfect-gift-for-e-o-wilson/|access-date=December 27, 2020|language=en-US|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303204240/https://eowilsonfoundation.org/the-perfect-gift-for-e-o-wilson/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Evolving into community|url=https://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2016-03/meaning-human-existence-edward-o-wilson|access-date=December 27, 2020|website=The Christian Century|language=en}}</ref>