Ways of Being

Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence

By: James Bridle

Narrated by: James Bridle

"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.

©2022 James Bridle (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

wow really smart

good knowledge to know. well researched. interesting. hard read so recommend audible. this is coming from a climate denier.

A fantastic look at technology and the natural world.

The writer is obviously very intelligent and has thoroughly researched the subject of the "more than human" world.

Skillful weaving of concepts

The author is able to connect multiple subjects and topics with great skill, weaving an interesting tapestry of ideas and connections not always obvious. His embrace of technology as part of the same unfolding as biological evolution is a very interesting concept and he articulates in a way that made receptive to and curious about it.

technology ecology!

loved this book! listened to the whole thing on a road trip. and was hanging on every word. as a software engineer and outdoor lover, this book reframed technology for me and helped see it thru a more natural lens. it made me realize how much good could be done for the Earth and everything single thing on it using technology it a responsible and respectful way.

Incredibly impactful and timely as AI dominates the news/world

A compelling argument for broader systems thinking in the time of AI. One of the most impactful books I have read in a while.