68 quotes
We are not compelled to believe in biological uniformity in order to affirm human freedom and dignity.
On Human Nature (1978)
Nothing fundamental separates the course of human history from the course of physical history.
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998)
God remains a viable hypothesis as the prime mover, however undefinable and untestable that conception may be.
On Human Nature (1978)
The central idea of the philosophy of behaviorism, that behavior and the mind have an entirely materialist basis subject to experimental analysis, is fundamentally sound.
On Human Nature (1978)
Few will doubt that humankind has created a planet-sized problem for itself. No one wished it so, but we are the first species to become a geophysical force, altering Earth's climate, a role previously reserved for tectonics, sun flares, and glacial cycles.
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998)
Most kinds of aggressive behavior among members of the same species are responsive to crowding in the environment.
On Human Nature (1978)
We seem to be able to be fully comfortable only when the remainder of humanity can be labeled as members versus nonmembers.
On Human Nature (1978)
The emergence of civilization has everywhere followed a definable sequence.
On Human Nature (1978)
The evolutionary epic is probably the best myth we will ever have.
On Human Nature (1978)
The incest taboo is another major category of primed learning.
On Human Nature (1978)
The most peaceable tribes of today were often ravagers of yesteryear and will probably again produce soldiers and murderers in the future.
On Human Nature (1978)
The fraction of Americans working in occupations concerned primarily with information has increased from 20 to nearly 50 percent of the work force.
On Human Nature (1978)
I interpret contemporary human social behavior to comprise hypertrophic outgrowths of the simpler features of human nature joined together into an irregular mosaic.
On Human Nature (1978)
The true evolutionary epic, retold as poetry, is as intrinsically ennobling as any religious epic.
The selection pressures of hunter-gatherer existence have persisted for over 99 percent of human evolution.
On Human Nature (1978)
The borderline between normal and schizophrenic people is broad and nearly imperceptible.
On Human Nature (1978)
The mosquito is an automaton. It can afford to be nothing else.
On Human Nature (1978)
We can search among the unconscious, emotion-laden learning rules for the kind of behavior most directly influenced by genetic evolution.
On Human Nature (1978)
The cardinal mystery of neurobiology is not self-love or dreams of immortality but intentionality. What is the prime mover, the weaver who guides the flashing shuttles?
On Human Nature (1978)
Nationalism and racism, to take two examples, are the culturally nurtured outgrowths of simple tribalism.
On Human Nature (1978)