Episode · The Daily Stoic · 2022-08-27
Books mentioned on Justin Gregg on Animal Intelligence and Human Stupidity
Ryan talks to Justin Gregg about his new book If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity, what we can learn from the nature of animals, the double edge sword of human intelligence, and more. Justin Gregg is science writer and author.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time
The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston is a comprehensive history of the physical book format and its cultural impact.
Discussed“It's a pleasure to talk; I love the book. I found it very interesting.”
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This Book
This Book by Kathryn Madeline Allen is a literary work.
Discussed“That strikes me as essentially the exploration of this book, where animals are smart and humans are dumb, or where humans are smart and animals are dumb. That's a beautiful anecdote; that's exactly it.”
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Frederick
Discussed“did you read the children's book Frederick about the mouse that sounds familiar”
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The Pope's Elephant
The Pope's Elephant by Silvio A.
Recommended“Pope Leo the 10th the Medici Pope was given an elephant named Hannah that lived behind the Vatican and there's a great book about it called the Pope's elephant”
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“But I argue in the book that we’re also terrible at feeling the consequences of long-term schemes. Our brains are still designed for making decisions in the here and now, just like animals.”
Own book This Book
“That's why I chose Nietzsche for this book; that’s exactly what he talks about. If I’m not wrong, I think the Stoics said something similar: animals live in the moment and aren't weighed down by these other considerations, so in that moment, they are happier.”
“In the book, I argue this isn't necessarily true with what we know from animal cognition, as they do have a bit of future planning. But for the most part, yes, that is true—we can think about our own deaths.”
“I’m not sure; in the book, I make an advanced calculation. Thinking about your death and planning these legacy projects, like writing a book to be remembered for, guides our actions, which is great.”
Passing Frederick
“I love that you can look at an animal and have no idea what it's for and how it got there in 2022.”