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March 2025
The Sun InterviewBy Mark LevitonHive MindLars Chittka on the Surprising Brainpower of Bees

Chittka: For me, understanding the minds of bees and other animals inspires a new respect for nature. Many conservation efforts—and there are a lot of people trying to rescue what’s left of the natural world—are motivated by the utility of these animals. This is especially the case with bees and insects. Many people are aware that bees are in trouble and that we ought to do something to help them, because they pollinate our crops. Many fruits and vegetables depend on bees’ pollination services: for example, melons, tomatoes, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, zucchini, pumpkins, cherries, cucumbers, squash, apples, and citrus fruits.
But that approach can’t work overall. If you’re really trying to protect nature, then it’s a complete package with many species, including annoying ones like wasps. So in addition to the utility argument, we must recognize that many of the animals around us are likely sentient—and thus quite possibly capable of experiencing the deterioration of their habitats. This creates a responsibility for us to do something about it.
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On a solo backpacking trip, in a desert military base, at a church revival

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Linda Kreger Silverman

Linda Kreger Silverman is a psychologist who has been an outspoken advocate for the gifted, who she feels have been neglected in schools and misunderstood in society. In 1979 Silverman founded the Gifted Development Center, which is now a subsidiary of the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development. (She directs both organizations.) Silverman received her undergraduate degree in elementary education from SUNY College of Education at Buffalo and her PhD in educational psychology and special education from the University of Southern California. She is the author of Giftedness 101, Counseling the Gifted and Talented, Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner, Advanced Development: A Collection of Works on Giftedness in Adults and the founder of Advanced Development Journal.

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