"There's joy in self-described "satellite nerd" James Bridle's British-accented voice as he narrates this audiobook about consciousness and the search for planetary intelligence." - AudioFile Magazine
This audiobook is read by the author.
Artist, technologist, and philosopher James Bridle's Ways of Being is a brilliant, searching exploration of different kinds of intelligence—plant, animal, human, artificial—and how they transform our understanding of humans' place in the cosmos.
What does it mean to be intelligent? Is it something unique to humans, or shared with other beings—beings of flesh, wood, stone, and silicon? The last few years have seen rapid advances in "artificial" intelligence. But as it approaches, it also gets weirder: rather than a friend or helpmate, AI increasingly appears as something stranger than we ever imagined, an alien invention that threatens to decenter and supplant us.
At the same time, we're only just becoming aware of the other intelligences which have been with us all along, even if we've failed to recognize or acknowledge them. These others—the animals, plants, and natural systems that surround us are slowly revealing their complexity, agency, and knowledge, just as the technologies we've built to sustain ourselves are threatening to cause their extinction, and ours. What can we learn from them, and how can we change ourselves, our technologies, our societies, and our politics, to live better and more equitably with one another and the non-human world?
Artist and maverick thinker James Bridle drawn on biology and physics, computation, literature, art, and philosophy, to answer these unsettling questions. Startling and bold, Ways of Being explores the fascinating, strange and multitudinous forms of knowing, doing, and being which are becoming evident in the present, and which are essential for our survival.
Ways of Being
Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 21, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781250856111
- File size: 346686 KB
- Duration: 12:02:15
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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May 2, 2022
A human-centric notion of intelligence takes the backseat in this fascinating survey from artist Bridle (New Dark Age). Intelligence, he writes, “is not something to be tested, but something to be recognized, in all the multiple forms that it takes.” To that end, he notes that plants have the “ability... to remember” and self-driving cars exhibit knowledge with their neural networks and learning patterns. Indeed, one of the author’s key insights is the way momentous advances in technology can lead to a better understanding of the “more-than-human world.” In a prime example, the rise of the internet and the corresponding notion of network theory made possible the discovery of how such networks operate “in the real world,” namely in the symbiotic relationships that connect fungi and plant roots in the forest. Bridle makes a solid case for his argument that “everything is intelligent” and that all life on Earth is interconnected, and his notion that intelligence is “one among many ways of being in the world” is well reasoned and convincing. This enlightening account will give readers a new perspective on their place in the world. Agent: Antony Topping, Greene & Heaton (U.K.). -
There's joy in self-described "satellite nerd" James Bridle's British-accented voice as he narrates this audiobook about consciousness and the search for planetary intelligence. For example, he excitedly recalls the moment when he first felt certainty about quantum physics. Even when he's not being so enthusiastic, listeners might be fascinated to learn that slime mold can solve the logistical problems of routing trains or traveling salespeople. Bridle shows his curiosity as he ponders the mirror test --whether a creature reacts to seeing its reflection--or the proper environment in which to create thriving artificial intelligence. Bridle's questioning is peppered with anecdotes that highlight aspects of consciousness--human and otherwise. How can listeners not perk up their ears when he describes a bird who used its own name with varying inflections to communicate? J.A.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
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