Consilience By E. O. Wilson And Life Is A Miracle By Wendell Berry

Through the comparison and contrasting of two important views in Consilience, by E.O. Wilson and Life is a Miracle by Wendell Berry, the reader can learn more about their views on the world, the sciences, and humanities while also being able to get a grasp on how they feel as well. As we have grown from a child into young adults, we have been taught only the core courses that will apply to our lives. By reading these books, you dive deeper into how the world is perceived and get a glance at why the two authors believe what they think is to be right. In his final chapter, E.O. Wilson devotes much of it to genetic engineering and environmental issues, but leads to the holding capacity of the planet and the merits of the diversity of plant and animal life. Starting at the beginning of the chapter, Wilson talks about the central idea of consilience, which is his view is a tangible phenomenon that can be reduced to the laws of physics. He supports this idea by talking about humanity and how it is kin to all other life forms. As we all share the same genetic coding, Wilson suggests that this places us among the monkeys and apes. With this belief about our hereditary, human nature, which has evolved during hundreds of thousands of years, has still profoundly affected the evolution of culture. As a sum of this, I think that Wilson is trying to let us know that even though we have been slowly evolving throughout the …show more content…
He writes, “The legacy of the Enlightenment is the belief that entirely on our own we can know, and in knowing, understand, and in understanding, choose wisely.” Throughout three paragraphs following this statement, it seems to me that he is saying we can, through better understanding, choose wisely. We should not surrender to the complexity. We need to develop and rely on our ethics. It is necessary for survival, and implicitly is best approached by