from the same article:"the human condition baffles all the more because it is both unprecedented and bizarre, almost beyond understanding."

a fascinating read by a great thinker

What a great article by Wilson! Thanks Wildcat.

Even when a non-renewable resource has been only half used, it is still only one interval away from the end.

Ecologists like to make this point with the French riddle of the lily pond. At first there is only one lily pad in the pond, but the next day there are two, and thereafter each of its descendants doubles. The pond completely fills with lily pads in 30 days.

When is the pond exactly half full? Answer: on the 29th day.