Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal

  • What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity
  • By: Justin Gregg
  • Narrated by: Justin Gregg
  • Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (15 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal cover art

If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal

By: Justin Gregg
Narrated by: Justin Gregg
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Invention of Tomorrow cover art
What Do Animals Think and Feel? cover art
The Lost Rainforests of Britain cover art
A Brief History of Equality cover art
How Emotions Are Made cover art
How to Understand Everything cover art
Follow the Money cover art
Pandora’s Lab cover art
The Atheist's Guide to Reality cover art
The Meme Machine cover art
The Mind Club cover art
How the Mind Works cover art
The Elephant in the Brain cover art
The Self Delusion cover art
The Curious Ape cover art
A Thousand Brains cover art

Summary

A myth-busting exposé of how human intelligence may be more a liability than a gift and a refreshing new way to understand the animal kingdom and our place on earth.

What if human intelligence is actually more of a liability than a gift? After all, the animal kingdom, in all its diversity, gets by just fine without it. At first glance, human history is full of remarkable feats of intelligence, yet human exceptionalism can be a double-edged sword. With our unique cognitive prowess comes severe consequences, including existential angst, violence, discrimination and the creation of a world teetering towards climate catastrophe. What if human exceptionalism is more of a curse than a blessing?

As Justin Gregg puts it, there's an evolutionary reason why human intelligence isn't more prevalent in the animal kingdom. Simply put, non-human animals don't need it to be successful. And, miraculously, their success arrives without the added baggage of destroying themselves and the planet in the process.

In seven mind-bending and hilarious chapters, Gregg highlights features seemingly unique to humans—our use of language, our rationality, our moral systems, our so-called sophisticated consciousness—and compares them to our animal brethren. What emerges is both demystifying and remarkable, and will change how you look at animals, humans and the meaning of life itself.

©2022 Justin Gregg (P)2022 Hachette Audio

More from the same

What listeners say about If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not great

A bit too neat for me. Lots of evolutionary “just so” stories. Biologically reductive explanations given over and over for complex behaviours. For example: People drink alcohol because it gives them pleasure. Yep, because people with alcohol problems are among the happiest in society. Younger people are drinking less than their parents generation because…they must’ve undergone brain changes, lowering the pleasure obtained from alcohol. Muslims don’t drink at all because….well, you get the idea. Not everything can be reduced to biology.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really enjoyable listen

Lots of context applied to the theories explained, rather than just big words. Really enjoyable for someone who lives outside of the academic world.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

Funny, thought-provoking, full of revelatory stories of animal behaviour and some very uncomfortable truths about humanity

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!