本文选自《经济学人》9月5日刊文章。这篇文章是对《Tales from the Ant World》这本书的书评。蚂蚁和人类有很多共同之处，两者都是社会性动物，都通过精妙的交流方式组成复杂的社会，都高度分层，有专门的分工和明确的等级制度。但蚂蚁的行为出于本能，而人类却有自己的意识和选择。蚂蚁利用人类的旅行扩大自己的活动范围，微小的躯体却可以破坏巨大的堤坝。通过这篇文章，你可以一窥蚂蚁微小却有趣的世界。
选文精讲
A bug’s life 一种昆虫的一生Ants and humans have shaped each other’s destinies蚂蚁和人类决定了彼此的命运Edward Wilson complements scientific observation with personal anecdotes爱德华·威尔逊用自己的故事来补充科学观察Sep 5th 2020 |
Tales from the Ant World. By Edward Wilson. Liveright; 240 pages; $26.95 and £17.99.《蚂蚁世界的故事》，作者：爱德华·威尔逊，出版社: Liveright；240页；26.95美元，£17.99。ANTS AND people have much in common, Edward Wilson explains. Both are social animals, organised into complex societies with elaborate forms of communication. Ant societies, much like the human kind, are often highly stratified, with specialised jobs and a well-defined caste system. Some ants are warriors, some slavers, and some, more benignly, gardeners.
stratify: 分层、形成阶层
caste system: 阶级制度
爱德华·威尔逊解释说，蚂蚁和人类有很多共同之处。两种动物都是社会性动物，通过精妙的交流方式组成复杂的社会。蚂蚁社会，很像人类，通常是高度分层的，有专门的分工和明确的等级制度，有些蚂蚁是战士，有些是奴隶，还有一些，是和善的园丁。But Mr Wilson cautions against carrying the analogy too far. Though ants are creatures of instinct, “human beings are torn by the competing needs of self, family and tribe. We use culture to banish instinct or at least tame it.” There is nothing in the ruthless lives of ants “that we can or should emulate for our own moral betterment”.
banish: 驱逐
但威尔逊告诫要提防把这种类比太过夸大。虽然蚂蚁是本能生物，但“人类被自我、家庭和部落的竞争需求撕裂”。我们用文化来驱除本能，或者至少控制本能。蚂蚁无情的生活中没有什么是“为了改善我们的道德，可以或应该仿效的”。Mr Wilson has built a distinguished career by deploying insights from the biology and behaviour of ants to present larger lessons about evolution, ecology and the extent to which human psychology can be explained by natural selection. As its title suggests, “Tales from the Ant World” is a short, loose-jointed and conversational book. It lacks the ambition of works such as Mr Wilson’s “Sociobiology: The New Synthesis” (published in 1975) or the panoramic sweep of “The Diversity of Life” (1992), but it is filled with delightful accounts of a naturalist in action and enough hard science to keep readers on their toes.
panoramic: 全景的
keep one on one's toes: 让某人保持警惕、紧张、时刻准备着（To forcesomeone to stayactive,alert,andfocused on something or someone.）
