Munroe said, “Of course we’re trying to pass on our own values to our children – like everyone else on the planet. And with about as much success. But at least most children here are taught sociobiology from an early age.”

“ Sociobiology? ”

He grinned. “More use than Bakunin, believe me. People will never agree on the details of how society should be organized – and why should they? But unless you’re an Edenite who believes there’s some ‘natural’, Gaia-given Utopian condition to which we should all return, then adopting any form of civilization means choosing some kind of cultural response – other than passive acceptance – to the fact that we are animals with certain innate behavioral drives. And whether that response involves the most subtle compromise, or the most vehement opposition, it helps to know exactly what it is you’re trying to accommodate, or oppose.

“If people understand the biological forces acting on themselves – and everyone around them – then at least they have a chance of adopting intelligent strategies for getting what they want with a minimum of conflict … instead of blundering around with nothing but romantic myths and wishful thinking, courtesy of some dead political philosopher.”

I let that sink in. I’d come across no end of detailed prescriptions for ludicrous “scientific” Utopias, and blueprints for societies organized on allegedly “rational” grounds … but this was the first time I’d heard anyone advocate diversity in the same breath as acknowledging biological forces . Instead of exploiting sociobiology to try to justify some rigid political doctrine to be imposed from above – from Marxism to the nuclear family, from racial purity to gender separatism – “we must live this way, because human nature requires it” … Munroe was suggesting that people could use the self-knowledge of the species to make better decisions for themselves.

Informed anarchy . It was an appealing notion – but I still felt obliged to be skeptical. “Not everyone’s going to let their children learn sociobiology; there must be a few cultural and religious fundamentalists, even here, who’d find it too threatening. And … what about adult migrants? If someone’s twenty years old when they arrive on Stateless, they’ll still be around for another sixty years. Plenty of time to lose their idealism. Do you really think the whole thing can hold together while the first generation grow old and disillusioned?”

Munroe was bemused. “Does it matter what I think? If you really care one way or the other: explore the island, talk to people, make up your own mind.”

“You’re right.” I wasn’t here to explore the island, though, or to form an opinion on its political future. I glanced at my watch; it was after one. I stood up.

Munroe said, “There’s something going on right now which you might like to see. Or even … try. Are you in a hurry?”

I hesitated. “That depends.”