Genesis: The Deep Origin of Societies

In "Genesis," Wilson takes on what few would dare approach—a description of the evolutionary history of society. Even more astonishing, he reveals this prodigious theory in plain English and in just 150 pages. This is E. O. Wilson at his best; revealing deep history and the origins of humanity simply and elegantly. In doing so, he gives us an alternative to the usual explanations of humankind that have been “enslaved by religious and political dogma.” In this short but profound book, Wilson astutely describes how natural selection has likely driven the evolution of eusocial species, or societies, including our own. And, as he notes, the evolution of language, science, and philosophical thought has made humans the de facto stewards of the biosphere; but, “can we muster the moral intelligence to fulfill this role?” R.C. Brusca (author of "In the Land of the Feathered Serpent. A Novel" and a dozen other books)

Mother Earth has reclaimed one of her most outstanding servants…on 26 December of last year. Dr. E. O. Wilson put together a professional career of unparalleled stature during his 92 years on Earth. The book under review here, Genesis: The Deep Origin of Societies, was published in 2019, but not long ago I finally read it. This fine small volume was followed by another work I reviewed at this site as well, i.e., Tales from the Ant World, published in 2020. Whether we will see a posthumous work from his pen remains to be seen, but in the years leading up to his death, Wilson was putting out about a book a year. Nonetheless, the writing of this review provides me an opportunity to not only provide a summary of his views on the evolution of eusociality, but also a review of his accomplishments throughout his long career. The career first. Another Wilson (by the way, I am not related to E. O. Wilson), i.e., David Sloan Wilson published a long piece entitled “The Six Legacies of Edward O. Wilson.” This Wilson identified and explored what he considers the major contributions of E. O. Wilson to our knowledge and understanding of the world about us, both the natural part and that occupied by our own species. These contributions (or legacies, if you will) are as follows: (1) his contributions to evolutionary biology; (2) his contributions to the conservation of biodiversity; (3) his contributions to a sociobiology that includes humans; (4) his contributions to the unification of knowledge; (5) his encouraging stance toward young scientists and other learners; and the new frontier he was working on at the time of his death, i.e., ecosystems. Interested readers might wish to find D. S. Wilson’s essay online or read a summary of it as published in Nautilus Magazine. I can do no more here than to point out the principal book-length works that are exemplary of Wilson’s six legacies. Interested readers can find these titles elsewhere at the amazon.com site. The five books thus far published and their dates of publication are: (1) The Theory of Island Biogeography (1967); The Diversity of Life (1992); (3) Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975); (4) Consilience (1998); and (5) Letters to a Young Scientist (2014). These titles are my choices as exemplary of his contributions in these areas, not necessarily those of David Sloan Wilson. These choices include only some of his most significant work and do not mention, for example, his major work in myrmecology, the study of ants, his chosen field of expertise. As an example of such work is the Pulitzer-prize-winning book he coauthored with Bert Hölldobler, simply titled The Ants. In the final analysis, we are not likely to see this sort of gentleman pass our way again soon, if ever.The book under review is relatively short, encompassing only 153 pages. The size of the book is stretched a bit by the inclusion of several pages devoted to a few sentences. For example, and of significance to the overall subject of the book, is the following information: “Eusociality, the organization of a group into reproductive and nonreproductive castes, occurred in only a tiny percentage of evolving lines, then relatively late in geological time, and almost entirely on land. Yet these few, leading to the ants, termites, and humans, have come to dominate the terrestrial animal world” (pg. 76). This book deals in fact with the evolution of eusociality, the pinnacle of the overall phenomenon of social evolution, which Wilson explored in several earlier books, including Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, mentioned above. The centerpiece of Genesis is a listing and discussion of the six so-called “great transitions of evolution,” i.e., organismic evolution. These stages are: (1) the origin of life; (2) the invention of complex (“eukaryotic”) cells; (3) the invention of sexual reproduction, leading to a controlled system of DNA exchange and the multiplication of species; (4) the origin of organisms composed of multiple cells; (5) the origin of societies; and, finally, (6) the origin of language. I will leave it to the reader to pursue these subjects in Wilson’s book, but be prepared to expand the reading to include others of Wilson’s prodigious works, and, generally, a study of the subject known as biology. The enforced confinement brought about by the coronavirus endemic might provide some of the time necessary for this sort of academic undertaking. This sort of reading might be best undertaken by people who have advanced professional degrees, but any intellectually curious person can gain great benefit from reading Genesis, as well as the ancillary reading.A question of interest to many readers, I think, is given that Wilson includes humans among the eusocial creatures (see the definition above), then what evidence do we show of having gone through these various stages of evolution on our way to our current perilous position on the planet? Obviously humans are living organisms and thus exemplify the first stage identified in the previous paragraph. Life is generally defined by biologists by virtue of what living things do, rather than what they are (see the biology textbook called Campbell’s Biology (now in its 12th edition). Living things exhibit the following features: (1) order; (2) evolutionary adaptation; (3) energy processing; (4) growth and development; (4) regulation; response to the environment; and (5) reproduction. Humans clearly are characterized by these features of life. Humans are eukaryotic organisms, i.e., they are composed of cells that enclose membrane-bound organelles, such as DNA-containing nuclei and mitochondria, and, thus, illustrate the second great transition. Humans reproduce sexually and have two genders, male and female. Males produce sperm and female eggs, which carry out the production of an embryo carried to full-term in the body of the female. Such, after all, is a bit obvious. Humans are also obviously multicellular and, beyond that, have these cells organized into tissues, organs, and organ systems. The reader can simply look at his or her outside and find the outer layer of the integumentary system. I took a break for lunch while writing this review, so I am now employing my digestive system to deal with what I consumed. And so, it goes. Humans are also obviously social animals. Societies are defined as consisting of members of the same species living in a multigenerational group that exhibits communication and cooperation (see the splendid text Biology: Concepts and Applications by Starr, Evers, and Starr). Finally, humans clearly are able to use language. This is what I am doing in this review. I am typing on a laptop computer using the English language. By language, Wilson means (pg. 38), a system of “words and symbols invented and assigned arbitrary meaning, then combined to create an infinite variety of messages…The messages generate stories, imagined and real, variously from all times past, present, and future.” Anyone reading this review obviously has a past (it takes time to learn how to read in any language), a present (he or she is reading this review now), and a future (if you don’t finish reading it today, you can do so tomorrow). Such a person can also understand the words and symbols I used in writing this review in American English.One characteristic of eusociality some readers might find peculiar as applied to humans is the matter of having both reproductive and nonreproductive castes, analogous to the queen, workers, and soldiers of termite societies. So, what nonreproductive castes exist in human societies. Wilson indicates (pg. 69) that “the strongest evidence is the postmenopausal ‘caste’ of grandmother helpers.” Grandmothers (and grandfathers who no longer reproduce) stay around after their own reproduction has concluded to help their own offspring and the offspring of those people. Such was certainly the case in my own life. Even though these people are all gone from the Earth now, they still occupy a favored place in my memory and among the family photographs displayed in my home. Wilson also mentions certain monastic order among organized religions around the world (members of the Catholic priesthood, for example). He also points out that given that homosexuality has at least a partly genetic basis that this group of people might also qualify as members of a nonreproductive caste, although, obviously, unlike the sterile workers of an ant or termite society, such people are still able to reproduce were they to choose to do so.Another feature of eusociality discussed by Wilson is altruism. This phenomenon gave earlier biologists intellectual fits, inasmuch as it seems to run counter to the idea of natural selection, as developed by Charles Darwin and his intellectual descents. So, Wilson briefly discusses how this tendency of individuals to serve society and cease to reproduce can be continued evolutionarily. This problem bothered the inestimable Darwin, but he explained it by invoking a phenomenon we now call group selection. Finding out about this process is another good reason to read this book. I’ll leave it to the other readers to do this.In the final analysis, I highly recommend a reading and a study of this book. With Dr. Wilson’s passing, the world has darkened quite a bit for me, although he admittedly lived a long and amazingly valuable life. He was long a mentor to me, although we never met and rarely communicated directly. I will be continuing to study his work and referring to it in my own I expect for as long as I have left. I hope that the humans he left behind will finally learn the many lessons he taught through his life and work. In a very large sense, Mother Earth depends on E. O. Wilson to teach the lessons that will allow the mother we all have to continue to thrive and support us and the rest of the diversity of life on this splendid planet.

Genesis Edward O. WilsonGenesis is Edward O Wilson’s exploration into the social evolution of man.One hundred and forty pages of well crafted text, are followed by a note/reference section for each chapter and an index. A sound base in the biological sciences, evolution and natural selection, though not a prerequisite to understanding Genesis, would provide a better foundation for grasping the significance of what Wilson writes. Genesis can easily be read in one day, or as I prefer with this type of reading, savor a chapter or two per morning after dog walk, with the morning’s coffee. Wilson covers all bases from the evolution of simple bacterial life, through the development of eukaryotic cells incorporating the relict symbiont theory, through the evolution of multi cellular organisms and concluding with how all that preceded us has shaped our own speciesEarly in our genetic history, the cooperation of cells, and the division of labor in multicellular organisms, seem to have something to do with the development toward eusociality; the highest level of organization of sociality, defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care, overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. Wilson “tracks social evolution through the ages”. He relates the development of eusocial societies with emphasis on organisms such as: ants; termites; bees; wasps; and hornets and how eusocial characteristics may have evolved within these organisms.The selective advantage of organisms that work together include resource discovery (food) that lone animals might not be able to find - think flocks of starlings, and also predator avoidance in phenomena such as murmurations of birds and fish. Wilson explores human evolution and possible adaptive advantages adapted by chimpanzee wars that “increase the survival and reproduction of their communities” and connects this with the “ lethal violence during warfare that is so common in human societies.” Though our species has adapted an altruistic tribalism, our past is littered with the evidence of the mortality of warfare.The only part of Wilson’s Genesis I question is illustrated by his searching for “actual processes of group selection” and uses Yellowstone wolves as an example. It just doesn’t work. Larger packs, and packs with more adults will usually prevail in regard to territorial conflict. There is no real surprise here, but then again in Yellowstone, pack size is more often than not dictated by prey type and prey density. However, that one small caveat does not distract from Genesis as an entire synthesis of Wilson’s thesis of the evolutionary pathway of the selective advantages toward species altruism and eusociality. As I sat and read Genesis, I experienced a stark aloneness as an individual looking out into the North Woods, yet, felt comfort by the magnificent processes of Natural Selection as put forth by Wilson.

Book was in excellent condition. It was well packed and promptly sent.

The book carefully lays out the position that Wilson has taken regarding socialbiological evolution. Not everyone agrees with his explenation of how social organizations have evolved among the animal phyla. Regardless, the descriptions he provides of insect societies are fascination, so if you havn't been exposed to this you are in for some facinating natural history. However, it is important to always remember that the evolutionary process is not directional; variation at all levels emerges and is more likely as not to go extinct down the road.

It is indeed a very well written thought provoking book where Mr. Wilson elaborated certain issues which hold the key for a deep understanding of who we are and how we are ..... what we are as on today. However it would have been more interesting to know what his thoughts would have been if the lens of his microscope would have had a more occi-oriental hue.These are very profound issue he has touched upon and shared his views. These are the realms where human mind trades more in golden silence rather than in written words.Hope we will have more such books from him in future.......

Excepcional! A experiência aliada ao conhecimento profundo e sem pedantismo!Vale cada palavra.

Genesis presents the origins, the evolutionary stages of life, and the development of eusociality that has been characteristic of our own species, Homo. The sweep of this evolution over hundreds of millions of years is breathtaking and told in a clear, beautiful style. I found I often had to read each sentence a few times to absorb the richness of the information and the connections between environment and adaptations. Wilson's depth of knowledge of biology and understanding of natural selection bestow one epiphany after another on the reader. You will never think of life in the same way again.

Ottimo libro, ottimo l'autore, spedizione in anticipo sui tempi previsti.

Lots of fascinating information here and written in an engaging way but there are sections where it feels like it is just a list of lots of different animals who are eusocial. This makes it difficult to follow at times.