My Meeting With E.O. Wilson.

I sat eagerly, on the edge of my seat, waiting for my subject to arrive. For the past 50 years or so, E.O. Wilson has been one of the most prominent men in biology. A myrmecologist by training, his studies on ants paved the way for new avenues in biology, including island biogeography, chemical biology, and sociobiology. Sociobiology was the extension of Darwinian evolution to explain social behaviors in vertebrates and, notably, humans. His biologically-based theories on the evolution of human behaviors, which reeked of the much-opposed concept of genetic determinism, placed him in the center of one of the biggest controversies of the last century.

I couldn’t wait to ask him about how he handled the critics of sociobiology. What was it like to have his lectures protested because of his views? What was it like to have water dumped on his head at the 1978 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science?

But as the door opened and E.O. Wilson stepped into the room, I could hardly believe that this man had ever been involved in such a heated controversy at all. He was tall, sure, but age and countless hours of field work had taken a toll on him. He was slender, with a full head of white hair, and a gentle, closed-mouth smile. I shook his hand, and he sat down in the chair across from me, leaning back and cocking his head slightly to one side. His eyes were focused, trained from years of investigating the slightest details on some of the smallest creatures. They were not judging, not stern, but they took everything in. And behind them lived the mind that formulated some of the most revolutionary ideas of his time.

Because I had forgotten where I wanted to start, I asked him about his childhood. As he spoke of inspecting fire ants around the docks of Mobile, Alabama and his encounter with a five foot poisonous cottonmouth moccasin, he spoke with the Southern geniality of the home he grew up in. He talked about how throughout college evolution came to explain the natural world better than the Southern Baptist tradition he grew up with, leading him from theism to secular humanism. He talked about his love of all of Earth’s creatures and his fascination with nature, inevitably leading to his most recent passion—preserving the declining biodiversity on Earth today. As we talked about human destruction of ecosystems, Wilson spoke with the strength and urgency of a man half his age. “The forces destroying the Earth’s biodiversity can be summed up with the acronym HIPPO,” he said. “H is for habitat destruction, which includes climate change, I is for Invasive species, the first P is for Pollution, the second for Population, and finally O is Overharvesting.” But, he went on, humans also have the power to change the course of destruction. I thought to myself that such optimism must have carried him through the uproar following his publication of Sociobiology.

“Dr. Wilson,” I interrupted. “How did you handle the controversy surrounding Sociobiology and the criticism you received for your views? And how have you handled current criticism from your colleagues regarding your challenge to Kin Selection theory?” He smiled and reiterated the words of Arthur Schopenhauer. “All ideas pass through three stages. They’re first ridiculed, then violently opposed. And then, they are accepted as self-evident.”

The above interview did not actually take place. Quotes from E.O. Wilson were obtained from the following sources:

E.O. Wilson and Elizabeth Kolbert video

Neyfakh, L. (April 17, 2011). Where does good come from?