If there is danger in the human trajectory, it is not so much in the survival of our own species as in the fulfillment of the ultimate irony of organ… - Edward O. Wilson

Science, its imperfections notwithstanding, is the sword in the stone that humanity finally pulled. The question it poses, of universal and orderly materialism, is the most important that can be asked in philosophy and religion.

For the entire course of evolution leading from our primitive mammalian forebears of a hundred million years ago to the single lineage that threaded its way to become the first Homo sapiens, the total number of individuals it required might have been one hundred billion. Unknowingly, they all lived and died for us. (21)

accordingly and accurately from one exchange to the next. The most successful member of a stable society has a strong sense of empathy. It can see what others see, feel what they feel, and gauge its response with precision — when to advance and when to retire, whom to groom and whom to avoid, whom to challenge and whom to placate. Empathy, the intelligence to read the feelings of others and predict their actions, is not the same as sympathy, the emotional concern felt for another’s plight combined with a desire to provide help and relief. It is closely