Intelligence in Nature: An Inquiry Into Knowledge

by Jeremy Narby

Continuing the journey begun in his acclaimed book The Cosmic Serpent , the noted anthropologist ventures firsthand into both traditional cultures and the most up-todate discoveries of contemporary science to determine nature's secret ways of knowing.

Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has altered how we understand the Shamanic cultures and traditions that have undergone a worldwide revival in recent years. Now, in one of his most extraordinary journeys, Narby travels the globe-from the Amazon Basin to the Far East-to probe what traditional healers and pioneering researchers understand about the intelligence present in all forms of life.

Intelligence in Nature presents overwhelming illustrative evidence that independent intelligence is not unique to humanity alone. Indeed, bacteria, plants, animals, and other forms of nonhuman life display an uncanny penchant for self-deterministic decisions, patterns, and actions.

Narby presents the first in-depth anthropological study of this concept in the West. He not only uncovers a mysterious thread of intelligent behavior within the natural world but also probes the question of what humanity can learn from nature's economy and knowingness in its own search for a saner and more sustainable way of life.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Anthropology, Philosophy, Biology, Spirituality

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2006

About the author

Jeremy Narby is an anthropologist and writer. Narby grew up in Canada and Switzerland, studied history at the University of Canterbury, and received a doctorate in anthropology from Stanford University. Narby spent several years living with the Ashaninca in the Peruvian Amazon cataloging indigenous uses of rainforest resources to help combat ecological destruction. Narby has written multiple books, as well as sponsored an expedition to the rainforest for biologists and other scientists to examine indigenous knowledge systems and the utility of Ayahuasca in gaining knowledge. Since 1989, Narby has been working as the Amazonian projects director for the Swiss NGO, Nouvelle Planète.- wiki

Reviews

[E.C.R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is neither well written nor well argued. The book is an academic travelogue of which relates interviews Narby conducts with various researchers and informants. What these researchers and informants have to relate is of interest, but how these ideas are related is not. Narby’s thinking is about the nature of intelligence and the intelligence in nature is very sloppy. Rather than come to grips with the various definitions of intelligence, skill and knowledge, Narby skirts the issue and refuses to take any theoretical position other than this is all really complex stuff. Frequently in the book Narby finds solace in mundane ethical non-dilemmas of invertebrate rights and plant perception, but even on these issues he finds difficultly in taking and defending a position. The travelogue portions of the book are do not inform the ideas presented and consist of banalities such as it was stormy in Tokyo and the plane ride was long. What is of interest are the descriptions of researchers views about intelligence and the capacity of seemingly simple organisms to perform complex tasks. Bees that can abstract, slime molds solving mazes and plants that communicate is all very interesting stuff. In fact the extended quotes provided in the back of the book make for a fascinating read and Narby can be applauded for collecting it all in one place. But having a good bibliography is not enough for me to recommend reading the book.

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of Darwin he says: "Here was a shaman among scientists." I like that. But mostly the book (only 150 pages before notes) is him digging up intelligence research in journals and visiting the scientists concerned. Bee cognition: "Though bees have brains the size of pinheads, they can master abstract rules... small brains do not hinder thought." It is "difficult to avoid the conclusion of intention and intelligent choice in the case of ground ivy... Plants learn, remember and decide, without brains." When he goes to Japan he finds scientists much more comfortable with use of the word 'intelligence', even when a slime mold solves a maze - as niftily as a rat, and every time. The slime investigator suggests that Christianity has put too big a divide between humans and other organisms, and the Western mind is very very reluctant to cross. Narby starts to use a Japanese term instead of intelligence; since, as the Japanese scientist says to him, "I feel that behind this term, there is Western Christian culture, in which intelligence is a gift from the God to humans only." And when Narby drops the word, things do start to make more sense. That is, it's easier to think about the behaviour of ground ivy; and then of our gut, because "the brain is not limited to the skull. My gut alone contains about one hundred million neurons capable of learning, remembering, and responding to emotions, just like the larger brain in my head." How does 'the capacity to know' work without a brain? We can't even guess, but we haven't got much of a clue on the brain. Bacteria communicate - and shamanship has always recognised that everything communicates.

He's an anthropologist and his inspiration comes from shamans who see our kinship with other organisms, not our differences. Because, though the scientific data has come in lately, "What may still be lacking among Westerners is a willingness to accept the consequences of this kinship. And Western languages may lack the appropriate concepts to think it through."

I wish there was more at the 'indigenous knowledge' end, and more altogether. The book's too short and easy for the subject.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most exciting thing I learned is about Slime Mold. That stuff shows up, outside, all the time. I always thought it was some kind of fungus, but it’s not! It’s a single celled organism that can move and combine with other ones, to make a more complex pile of slime, that MOVES and has solved mazes! I’m so going to study this myself, when it next shows up.

This book was written in a way where it was both entertaining, and educational. We follow him through his many adventures in a variety of countries. He meets with people from all types of backgrounds, from shamans to scientists. We learn about the intelligence of birds, insects, mammals, and even plants.

His main position is that all life has intelligence, therefore, nature is not a machine. He doesn’t attempt to prove or disprove anything, but allows the reader to draw their own conclusions. He writes as a anthropologist, not as a scientist. There’s plenty of science to think about, but don’t expect this book to prove any theories. Expect this book to make you think.

I want to own a copy of this book, so I can highlight and dog ear it! And then I’ll go read it to the slime mold. Kidding.

[Charlene · Rating 1 out of 5]

I whole heartedly buy the argument that microbes, plants, and other animals have vast intelligence. The delivery of support for this argument was interwoven with things I felt very unnecessary. Why should we care that shamans think animals and plants have souls? I love many of the animal studies included in this book but why ruin those studies with musings about shamans?

[Clark Hugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tout être humain prisonnier par les modèles du monde occidental désireux de s'en affranchir doit lire ce texte qui se lit en 4 soirées pour le lecteur débutant. Si peu de pages, mais tant de contenus étonnants...tant de recherches sa part, tout autant théoriques que pratiques, en allant discuter avec LES spécialistes et autres chercheurs.

merci encore une fois a Narby d'écrire de manière toujours si précise et concise, de citer ses sources, d'expliquer son raisonnement ainsi que le déroulement de ses enquêtes, afin de permettre aux autres d'ouvrir les yeux, s'ils le désirent, immédiatement, ou bien un jour lorsqu'ils seront prêts à enlever les œillères et à enfin embrasser la vraie nature de notre réalité commune: l'intelligence dans la nature est une affirmation par les indigènes de toute la planète. La pharmacologie est basée sur la connaissance de ces mêmes indigènes, et eux affirment que ces connaissances leur viennent des plantes elles-mêmes.

Peut être serait-il temps d'écouter ce qu'ils ont à nous dire, et de voir comment nous pourrions concilier le savoir ancestral au savoir moderne, afin que l'être humain évolue dans son milieu naturel pour lequel il a évolué, et non pas baigner dans une déchetterie de matières inorganiques non recyclables (transhumanisme, transfert de l'âme sur du silicium, etc)

[Shaun · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate much of Narby's direction with this book, but his repetitive writing style is really tiresome. On a quest to find "intelligence" in the animal world, he interviews and discusses the concept with several people working with specific insects, animals, slime molds, etc. and comes up with some intriguing points. Where his writing falters, the passion of his interviewees picks up, making it worth the effort to get through in the end. I just wish Narby's writing was even half as engaging as the ideas he posits!

[Edric Unsane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book delves in to whether animals are intelligent and conscious from an anthropological slant. I tend to lean towards the assertions of the author, but I think that more rigorous scientific studies need to be done in this area.

[Elisabeth Young · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have loved it, but I thought it was kind of terrible. The interesting ideas get mired is what I perceived as Narby's self importance. I would suggest reading Robin Wall Kimmerer, or the books "other minds" and "mushroom at the end of the world" instead.

[Trenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some serious white appropriation happening here. The writing is also not good.

[Nalini · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super eye-opening but also slightly lazy work. He didn't even establish his own thesis on the issue. Still, I respect the integrity of the research here compared to the illogical leaps and bounds in his other work.

[Dеnnis]

Oh, my... I'm at a loss to determine who's the target audience of this.

[William Findley]

Do we truly understand reality consciously, or is it the unconscious nature of our own intelligence that understands it for us?

If you’re into mind-boggling reads, this is definitely the book for you. Jeremy Narby is a well-established anthropologist, and this book sums up his time trying to understand native tribes and Shamanism. The first 100 pages are rather neat, and definitely conform to the mind-altering experience that is a Narby book. After those 100 pages though, you’d have to be really into anthropology or something like that to continue reading, because it gets rather boring after that. Personally, I really really enjoyed it, and I would recommend it to anyone who has free time and wants to understand the mind on a grander scale. It’s not a difficult book if you understand some concepts regarding anthropology, but if you don’t know anything about the human race or anthropology, you’re probably not going to even pick this book up in the first place.

Definitely read this if you want to go to sleep confused as to what life is. This book is great for that.

[Ary · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was in grad school in the early 2000s, I had a colleague who referred to a certain kind of ostentatiously intellectual, but otherwise shallow conversation as "big bang chromosomes touching." That phrase kept coming back to me as I read Jeremy Narby's 2005 travelogue of shamanic frameworks for understanding nature-cum-survey of the research on information processing by (non-human) living systems, "Intelligence in Nature." Think late-night in a dorm room with a dude who has completed a few survey courses in comparative religion, philosophy, and ecology, taken several bong rips, and wants you to understand how "it's all connected."

I use "information processing" here, rather than intelligence, because it's clear that Narby doesn't have a clean definition of intelligence (which is fine, no one really does), and ultimately offers up the Japanese term chisei (知性) as an alternative. Chisei might be closer to "smart," and carries less anthropocentric freight than "intelligence." Western notions of intelligence as something that separates man from the rest of the natural world come in for justified criticism, and I liked the concept of chisei as a shorthand for the unexpected elegance of how living systems solve novel problems.

But Narby clearly wants to have his cake and eat it too, switching freely between chisei and intelligence in the later chapters of the book to describe everything from bee navigation in novel environments, to ant social organization, to the ability of slime molds to "solve" a maze† to the ability of proteins to "respond" appropriately within a complex cellular milieu††. The uncanny ability of non-human complex systems–biofilms, forest communities, bees, and beyond–to respond flexibly and "intelligently" to their environments is a theme that has resurfaced in the years since in books like Megan O'Ghieblyn's "God, Human, Animal, Machine" (2021), Eduardo Kohn's "How Forests Think" (2013), and Jeremy Lent's "The Web of Meaning" (2021) are a few examples that spring readily to mind. Carl Safina's "Beyond Words" (2015) and Frans de Waals' "Are We Smart Enough to Know how Smart Animals Are?" (2016) tackle the subject with more wit than Narby.

Writing in 2005, Narby presents his ideas as a new and radical departure from previous mechanistic conceptions of biology rooted in Descartes, but many of the examples he presents were standard fare for biology education in the mid 1990s when I was in college. I recognize that as an anthropologist Narby is a disciplinary outsider, but he writes about biology as though between Darwin and the 1990s the field utterly forgot about organismal biology and ethology, everything became biochemistry and molecular biology and reductionism, and only at the dawn of a new millennium were a few brave souls willing to talk about complex behaviors in living systems. Scientific fashions may come and go, but even at peak reductionism in the golden age of biochemistry and molecular genetics (about 1953-1983), there were scientists thinking about the interesting integrative behaviors living things are capable of, and performing interdisciplinary and holistic research.

A big motivation for "Intelligence in Nature" seems to be Narby's disappointment that his previous book, "The Cosmic Serpent" was not the smash hit he expected. I haven't read it yet, but given how Narby relates that one of the core arguments in that book was that ayahuasca hallucinations give shamans direct comprehension of DNA "on a molecular level," I understand why it probably came in for a solid dose of ridicule. To address this, part of "Intelligence in Nature" describes taking some biophysicists to the jungle for an ayahuasca ceremony. As their doors of perception were opened, they were asked to think about their research, and they claimed to experience relevant insights mediated by the psychoactive compounds. Narby expects the reader to see this as a vindication of his prior claims about shamanic ways of knowing, but I don't buy that, for a few reasons:

First, we bring our prior experiences into any hallucinatory adventure, and the biophysicists were intentionally primed to think about their research. It would be more compelling if he had people with no experience of molecular biology go through the ayahuasca ritual, ask if they had any insights about DNA, or the actin cytoskeleton, or central carbon metabolism, or whatever, and then take those insights to experts in the field for verification.

Second, narrative descriptions of hallucinations tend to be imprecise anecdotes; it's easy enough to squish a vision of two snakes coiled around each other into a metaphor for DNA (people have been connecting the coiled snakes of Mercury's caduceus to DNA since 1953 without the benefit of ayahuasca), or to use motivated reasoning to map a hallucination-created metaphor onto a subject of your particular expertise. That a college professor in the 1990s heard about "two snakes at the heart of life," or whatever, and thinks "ah, they are obviously talking about the DNA double helix" is pretty weak tea. Even historical records of similar hallucinatory anecdotes from before 1953 would be hard to take seriously as evidence of direct knowledge of molecular biology, since two snakes might just be an idiomatic trope on the lines of "wine-dark sea."

Third, insisting that shamanic ritual is merely a "different way" of attaining scientific knowledge maintains the privileging of western science over those other ways of knowing. It's saying "look ma, ayahuasca can science, too," rather than acknowledging that hallucinations (and meditation, and mindfulness, and music, and exercise) are complementary ways of exploring reality, each with unique advantages and limitations.

Luckily, this book was short. I'm not sure I could have survived a higher dose of Narby's self indulgent pontification.

---------

† I've read Nakagaki et al.'s 2000 Nature paper, and slime molds "solve" the maze only in a very technical sense. At the start of the experiment, the slime mold occupies the full extent of the maze. The experimenters then place nutrients at the "start" and "end" of the maze, and the slime mold withdraws from the rest of the maze, minimizing the area it occupies until it lies along shortest path between the two nutrient sources. It's not navigating the maze from start to end. Theseus it ain't.

†† Of course, this is a wishful thinking, on at least two levels: first, the protein sequences we have access to in the present are those that survived billions of years of purifying selection precisely for the ability to function in the complex environments wherein we observe them; second, a given protein, even if it has multiple modes of regulation, has a very narrow repertoire of "behaviors," and doesn't "learn" new things.

[Andrew Sampson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book questions intentionality posed as "intelligence" in nature. The author found a better term as the result of a visit to Japan where there in not such a distinction of man-vs-nature in the concept of chi-sei, which conotates a sort of knowingness or recognizing-ness and as exemplified by creatures such as slime molds which lack a nervous system or a brain, are unicellular yet can navigate mazes when food is placed at either end. Essentially Jeremy Narby is asking how much sentience we are willing to grant to nature and how we are going about doing just that as science probes deeper into living systems.

[Ogi Ogas · Rating 2 out of 5]

My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

About 20-30 pages of interesting science, and over 100 pages of boring and unnecessary travelogue coupled with intro level philosophy.

[Deivids Intovičs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very beautiful and inspiring and informational book into the search of Intelligence in the nature and different life forms. Jeremy Narby does great job by compiling different cultural approaches into his research starting from shamans in Amazons, to scientists in the Japan.
The book illustrates his journey towards understanding the intelligence in nature and compiles various examples from various scientists from all over the world. Very interesting read, makes you think of Intelligence in different ways, like for example, how humans tend to associate intelligence with movement, and linguistic limitations.
One wonderful word that struck me was the Japanese concept, that cannot be translated directly to English, since English language does not have the proper word for it. It is called Chi-sei [chie-say] meaning 'to know', 'to recognise'. He mentions this concept through out the book, since it resonates with the Japanese ideologies, that everything in nature has spirit, like Animism. This type of philosophy is very common through various cultures around the world, like Native Americans, Indigenous people, Historically Europeans (considerably Pagans), Japanese, Hindus and so on.
Book is a wonderful illustration and bridging between science and spirituality to some extent. It has examples that suggest that everything in nature operates and communicates with the Chi-say principle.
I highly recommend reading this book

[Matthew King-Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narby first explores the concept of intelligence in nature in A Cosmic Serpent through his experiences with South American shamans. As an anthropologist this was his first time experiencing the concepts of non-human intelligence.

In his follow up Narby starts off interviewing shamans about their opinions and experiences with intelligence in nature. He then talks to working field biologists about their observations in the jungle and then finishes the book by traveling to Japan to visit several labs and talk to experimental biologists about their experiences with animal, plant, or bacterial intelligence. He introduces the reader to a Japanese concept of Che Sei which roughly translates to an "ability to know" which is different from intelligence as we typically think of it.

There are many interesting examples and stories from the interviewees to show the reader forms of intelligence outside of our own human experiences. Worth picking up, it's a quick read. There's not enough detail to conclusively gain much knowledge outside of a few interesting facts but you can gain a different conceptualization of humans place in the universe and in nature.

[Bob Comparda · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have a absolutely no knowledge on the subject of animal intelligence then this might be s book for you. If you were already interested then you probably don't need to bother. The author goes around asking other scientists if they think animals can be intelligent and it seems like he never decides what he thinks. There were chapters that weee interesting on birds, insects, plants, and slime molds to name a few, but then there were chaptere on humans and on machines, which seemed out of place. This is a good starting point on the subject, but there just wasn't enough information i didn't already know.

[literary appreciator Joe 🌲 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shoutout a deeper understanding of the way plants and animals think and behave, that shit rocks. Animals are not machines, Descartes can go fuck himself.

This book was solid, but for some reason it took me so long to get through. I’ve been reading it for like a year off and on. Partially my fault for being a shitty reader but idk, even though all the subject matter was super interesting and exactly up my alley, I just struggled to feel sucked into it. But I still loved it, a super cool investigation of exactly what it is titled and I quite enjoyed all of it. Prepare yourself future guests at the lodge, imma reference this chi-sei shit often and sound pretentious as fuck

[Bria Aguayo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fascinating. I was half way through and realized all I was reading was the bibliography, though. It was interesting and amazing that there were so many references but wish it was longer with a more cogent look at the intelligence and possibly the spiritual nature of being truly part of the natural world. I didn't enjoy it as much as Cosmic Serpent but I love the subject matter. I've quoted parts of it in conversation. Recommend it for sure, especially if you are into biology, evolution, genetics, or the spiritual mysteries.

[Randi S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Giving it 2 stars for the interesting facts I learned about animals. Otherwise, I couldn’t stand the writing- pretentious, self important philosophy 101. If I wanted to read a travel diary I would have bought one. Seemed like 99% of the book was just other people’s ideas. Probably less than 1 page of original ideas. And definitely didn’t talk about shamanistic beliefs as much as I thought it would? I mean the quote on the cover of the book talks about his “astonishing connections between shamanistic beliefs and those of modern science.” He barely talked about it…

[Kandachamy Vijayakumaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeremy Narby goes world-trotting to unravel the intelligence of nature which an ordinary being may feel an irrational attempt. The Cartesian principles we were indoctrinated to will lead us strait into such a trap. But Narby is unravelling truth with support from pure science, from experiences of those who practice hardcore science. He shows that his non-scientific shaman friends were there at the same truth already without the support of any science! A very interesting read indeed!

[Lekeshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to Intelligence in Nature by Jeremy Narby while working on our home. Enjoyed following him through his journey to understand Nature on an intellectual level. Nature is more than machines including ourselves. They are able to communicate, think, and move regardless of if they are what many people believe are simple plants. Plants have feelings too. I enjoyed the fact that he mentioned that rather someone is a vegan or omnivore, we are still predators our pray just differs.

[Virginie Vrancx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le sujet m’intéresse beaucoup et je suis convaincue de l existence d’une intelligence dans la nature. J’ai bien aimé les exemples amenés dans le livre. Les éléments scientifiques ont été vulgarisés et le livre est accompagné de nombreuses notes. J’aurais aimé un peu moins de vulgarisation et plus d explications dans le texte ou une autre présentation des notes (dans ma version il n’y a ps d autre référence que la page).

[Slfiore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been fortunate to hear the author speak at two symposia on human consciousness at the Bioethics Forum in Madison, Wisconsin. The subject of human consciousness was stretched when presenters like Narby talked of what they had learned about the consciousness in our worlds which we don't recognize. The book is a longer exploration of what we heard -- surprising and exciting!

[Jeremy J Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was meh. Written badly. Literally half the book was notes and bibliographies. I don't mean that figurative. Actually half the book.
He basically had an idea, looked up examples, and went to talk to the scientists. That's it. Done and over.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that makes you see the world in different eyes. Life as we understand it's workings, is not simply limited to human beings. All Life has purpose and intelligence which however different from our own mass of gray matter, allows decisions and choices to be made within neural network-like strands of hair or sand sized brains. The exact workings though still largely not understood demonstrate that intelligent Life is pretty much in all living things. We as humans must learn to accept that we are not as singular as we think we are. Aside from vocal speech communication capabilities. New research shows that virtually all life forms have means of communicating within their groups and even among outside groups when need be.
Humanity must come down off the tower they have built and realise that we must live together with all living things and not be seperated from them. As shamans within the Amazon and also in the cultures of various other indigineous peoples have spoken of ; our lives are intertwined with thiers and once we learn to accept that we may then begin to live in a more harmonius relationship with Nature based on "Chi-sei" or Knowingness, as it's called in Japanese.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little less cohesive than The Cosmic Serpent, but still chock-full of interesting information, some of which is only becoming publicly well-known now. Worth the read.

[Rex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful overview of the many ways Nature shows us levels of intelligence that put away our ideas that it's somehow inferior to us.