Intelligence in Nature - Jeremy Narby [0]
ALSO BY JEREMY NARBY
The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the
Origins of Knowledge
Shamans Through Time: 500 Years on the Path
to Knowledge (with Francis Huxley)
INTELLIGENCE IN NATURE
AN INQUIRY INTO KNOWLEDGE
JEREMY NARBY
Jeremy P. Tarcher / Penguin
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
New York
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin
Published by the Penguin Group
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Copyright © 2005 by Jeremy Narby
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authorâs rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
The Library of Congress catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:
Narby, Jeremy.
Intelligence in nature: an inquiry into knowledge / Jeremy Narby.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
1. Psychology, Comparative. 2. Animal intelligence. 3. OrganismsâMiscellanea. I. Title.
BF671.N37 2005 2004058849
156'.3âdc22
ISBN: 978-1-1011-9089-0
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Futher, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
To Beatrice
AUTHORâS NOTE
The endnotes tell a story of their own, and I leave it to individual readers to determine how much or how little to use them. The narrative can be read entirely by itself, but for those who wish more information on a given topic or statement, many passages are calibrated by chapter, page number, and subject matter to endnotes that begin on page 149.
CONTENTS
Introduction
SEARCHING FOR INTELLIGENCE IN NATURE
Chapter 1
BRAINY BIRDS
Chapter 2
AGNOSTIC VISIONS
Chapter 3
TRANSFORMERS
Chapter 4
CABIN FEVER
Chapter 5
INSECT MINDS
Chapter 6
PREDATORS
Chapter 7
PLANTS AS BRAINS
Chapter 8
SMART SLIME
Chapter 9
JAPANESE BUTTERFLY MACHINES
Chapter 10
MYSTERY JELLY
Chapter 11
CHI-SEI AND KNOWING NATURE
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX
BIBLIOGRAPHIC INDEX
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NATURE LOVES TO HIDE
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HERACLITUS
INTELLIGENCE IN NATURE
Introduction
SEARCHING FOR INTELLIGENCE IN NATURE
For fifteen years I have helped indigenous Amazonian people gain titles to their lands. These are people who believe that plants and animals have intentions, and that shamans communicate with other species in visions and dreams. Their way of knowing is difficult for rationalists to grasp.
More than a decade ago, I began searching for common ground between indigenous knowledge and Western science, and ended up finding links between shamanism and molecular biology. In the book The Cosmic Serpent, I presented the hypothesis that shamans take their consciousnesses down to the molecular level and gain access in their visions to information related to DNA, which they call âanimate essences,â or âspirits.â
In the Amazon, indigenous