"Humanity’s superior intelligence has led us into a self-reinforcing trap of endless economic growth. Thanks to the author’s engaging style, the book is a pleasure to read, though its subject is grave and touches every one of us."
Keski-Uusimaa
Whale in a Glass Bowl
Currently only available in Finnish
Humans can be immensely smart. Yet we overuse the resources of the Earth in many stupid ways. Thanks to our biological wiring, knowledge of looming destruction does not translate into action. What provides solace and solutions is this: we are not alone in it.
Information makes the world go around, both the biological and the cultural – genetic data programmes cells, tradition programmes cultures, and the most appealing information gets passed from one generation to the next. But the type of knowledge that is good for an individual needn’t be so for the species or the planet, making the logic of life far less straightforward than we like to believe.
Whale in a Glass Bowl (Valas lasimaljassa) shows how similar (and sometimes downright silly) information strategies betray humans, brown trout and marsupial quolls alike. Effectively, we end up like a whale in an aquarium, trapped despite our big brains. Yet, if we start using our intelligence to understand the animal in us and tweak our economies, stories and incentives to fit its biological predilections, we may discover that our aquarium is more like a frail glass bowl – easy to shatter, easy to escape – and find smarter ways towards sustainability.