Meaning of Human Existence (Wilson) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The Meaning of Human Existence:

1. For Wilson, science and evolution are the bedrocks for understanding "the meaning of human existence"—this is the book's basic premise. Does Wilson make his case? How so...or why not?

2. According to Wilson, our propensity for social integration—"to communicate, recognize, evaluate, bond, cooperate, compete, and from all these the deep warm pleasure of belonging to [our] own special group”—is hard-wired within us. How have those tendencies given us dominance over earth's other creatures?

3. Wilson writes that "the great religions are sources of ceaseless and unnecessary suffering. They are impediments to the grasp of reality needed to solve most social problems in the real world." How do you take Wilson's assertion? Do you agree with him...or disagree? Do you see a more positive role for religion?

4. Critics have called Wilson a genetic determinist, a view of human life as mechanistic with little room for free will. After reading The Meaning of Human Existence, do see him as such? Or would you describe his views as more complicated and nuanced? Where would you place yourself on the spectrum of genetic vs. environmental determinism (i.e., nature vs. nurture)?

5. Talk about the role Wilson sees for the humanities and their relationship to science.

6. We are "the mind of the planet," Wilson posits. What does he mean by that statement...and what does he see as the responsibilities that follow from that position?

7. Where does Wilson stand on the possibility of "life" (in some form) on other planets or in other galaxies? What threat would earth face from aliens?

8. Is this book pessimistic...or realistic? What vision of hope, if any, does it offer for the future?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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