Beyond Words

“Beyond Words” by Carl Safina is a wide-ranging book. How do I begin to say what it’s about? “What is consciousness like for other animals?” is one central question, explored in many ways. This book deals with misconceptions, even in the scientific community. Humans really are not that different from other animals, and the mind and many other traits have deep roots from common ancestors. The author often ends a section with a line about things that might “make us human.” He shows, too, how if something is found not only in humans but also in other organisms, it doesn’t make sense for that to be a defining human characteristic. For a scientist of Safina’s stature, just to write and research such a book is notable. Beliefs about human exceptionalism are so common yet not based on any evidence (he even singles out philosophers, saying they have no data), and it’s time we lose our bias and become more scientific.

Though a relatively long book, at close to 500 pages, my recommendation is that this is definitely worth reading. The conversational tone makes this suitable for readers of any background. If it seems repetitive, thus making for a longer read, that is made up for by the content, that is so interesting, and so much information everyone would be better for knowing. He provides multiple definitions or rephrases things to ensure the reader will understand – we’re not just given one cold offering. He really takes the time to fully explain concepts. I took a lot of notes, so for a long book, here’s my long review.

The first part is mostly about elephants, especially in Amboseli National Park in Africa; the second part is mostly about wolves, especially in Yellowstone National Park; the third part is a mix of everything; the fourth part is mostly about killer whales, an effective choice for conservation writing. Elephants have been in the news lately, their numbers dropping fast, and reading this book, it’s sadly not surprising. Safina reminds us they’re not just numbers. The least we can do to appreciate why they’re individuals is to read a book like this. Most of us can’t spend our lives studying them, and may never see them, but the people that do work with them, like the ones in this book, are needed, so we know who we’re sharing the earth with. Elephants, social creatures, live in matriarchal units – and as we later see, wolves and whales are quite similar in this way. They are all what he calls “who” animals.

Also not surprising is that many “unlikely stories” come up – but if so many keep coming up, are they still “unlikely”? I think this just shows how unwilling we have been to seriously study animal communication, among other things. There is a fascinating discussion of how challenging it is to describe the language and communication of species other than our selves. The way dolphins make sound from their skulls, for example, is so loud and different from creatures that use voice boxes, it seems so foreign and strange – but it’s normal for them, and has been for a really long time, longer than we’ve been around.

When have different species been able to communicate with each other? He notes “interspecies cultural transmission” among his pet birds, and also tells of groupers working with other fishes to hunt. I love the multiple references to jazz, including his two ducks’ names, Duck Ellington and Thelonious Duck (and he’s friends with Paul Winter, which is cool). On prosody, he explains why it can be good to sing or listen to music in another language even if we don’t have a translation. Reminder to self: I have to find that music for tamarins, even if it doesn’t sound good to humans.

Let’s talk about wolves now. Unlike elephants given names in study, wolves are given numbers, though often earn nicknames. They hunt in groups, but not every wolf is always concerned with hunting. So, when the lead hunters are killed, that affects the whole pack, similar to taking out the elephant matriarch – it’s a loss of shared memory and experience. I did not know that domesticated dogs are now recognized as subspecies of wolves (Gray wolves, Canis lupus) – dogs being Canis lupus familiaris. I’m now going to think of this every time I see a picture of a dog or wolf. Humans and wolves (and dogs) evolved together, and Safina’s two dogs, Chula and Jude, are mentioned several times in demonstrations of these relationships.

Like Safina, I don’t care much for the term “theory of mind” – there seems to be no good definition. Here I quote: “Some experiments say more about the researchers. When researchers can’t intuit the animals’ thoughts or viewpoint, it shows that many humans lack a theory of mind for non-humans.” For an excellent novel that addresses this topic, and even contains a similar line, read “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” by Karen Joy Fowler. While spindle cells appear to be related to social brains, it’s not exactly clear what mirror neurons do, but they can’t explain everything, and have been wildly over-extrapolated.

Let’s get back to killer whales, sometimes known as orcas, though neither is really a fitting name. Some are orcas, yet there are populations breeding independently of each other, and it wasn’t clear if this is enough for them to be separate species. The whale hierarchy increases in size from pods to clans to communities. Despite some populations hunting fish in groups versus others that kill seals and even large whales, there is a notable “absence of aggression among free-living killer whales” and no known attack against humans (note the "free living"). Descriptions of cetaceans are so incredible, just to know that they exist here in this world. The author offers an imaginary scenario of what it would be like as a human captive of whales – not a good life at all. Now imagine if they go extinct within our lifetimes, or in the next generation or two. Then read this. Would you be able to believe they ever existed, and why we let their demise happen? They’d be as gone as dinosaurs. If things weren’t bad enough after senseless slaughter, capture, overfishing of food sources and bioaccumulation of toxins in available food, military testing – in protected areas – is killing them too.

A sentence that begins with “For his [or her] extraordinary insights,” should not end with “he [or she] was ridiculed and marginalized” but rather something like “he/she was awarded/recognized” – in short, something positive and useful. That was just something that jumped out at me – I don’t want to continue this negativity. So, Safina uses some alliterations as well as choice verbs for more artful writing, not detracting from the scientific integrity. He even acknowledges, like his editor, that “most of what we jabber on about could be said in fewer words,” but this is a book worth reading. Of all the exciting things out there, so many are known in humans but so much more is unknown in everyone else. He mentions, but doesn’t get into, synesthesia, and how even blind people can use a kind of echolocation. There is a lot of important information to take away from reading “Beyond Words”. Perhaps the biggest lesson here is: treat animals better. Not only better, but as we ourselves would like to be treated. It does take research to understand what is normal for each species, but when we get to know some of these animals as individuals, either through reading or research, what we’ll find will be extraordinary.

Note: I thank Picador for providing an e-galley for this review.