“Intelligence is not something that only takes place in an organism”

From gibbons to trees to slime molds: nature is full of intelligence that has long gone unnoticed. According to writer James Bridle, we should stop asking ourselves: “Do you look like me?“But: “What's it like to be you?

“Because a tree does respond to stimuli such as light, touch, sound, even smell. He 'warns' his peers about danger, negotiates nutrients with fungal networks in the soil. His fascinating book Ways of Being. According to him, it's about asking other beings a fundamentally different question about intelligence.

In Ways of Being, writer and artist James Bridle considers the fascinating, eerie, and multiple ways of existence on Earth. What can we learn from these other forms of intelligence and personality, and how can we change our societies to be more equitable with each other and the non-human world? From Greek oracles to octopuses , woods to satellites, Bridle tells a radical new story about ecology, technology and intelligence. We must, they argue, expand our definition of these terms to build a meaningful and free relationship with the non-human, one based on solidarity and cognitive diversity. We have so much to learn and many worlds to win. Bridle shows how important it is to listen to each other and our environment and create new forms of community.

“Be ready to reevaluate your relationship with the amazing life forms we share with the planet. Fascinating, innovative and thought-provoking: I highly recommend Ways of Being' Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace In recent years, there has been a rapid development in “artificial” intelligence, which increasingly seems to be something strange than we had ever imagined. At the same time, we are becoming more aware of the other intelligences that have always been with us, not recognized. These other creatures are the animals, plants, and natural systems that surround us, slowly revealing their complexity and knowledge — just as the new technologies we've built are at risk of causing their extinction, and ours.