Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Michael PollanRead
Looking at the world from other species' points of view is a cure for the disease of human self-importance. You suddenly realize that consciousness - which we value and we consider the crowning achievement of nature, human consciousness - is really just another set of tools for getting along in the world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote advocates for empathy towards other species, reminding us that human consciousness is just one way to navigate existence.
In this quote, Michael Pollan emphasizes the importance of adopting different perspectives, particularly those of other species, to challenge our own sense of superiority. By realizing that our human consciousness is merely one of many tools for survival and interaction in the world, we can diminish our self-importance and foster a deeper connection with the environment and other living beings.
Themes
EmpathyConsciousnessSpeciesSelf-ImportancePerspective
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about environmental ethics.
More from Michael Pollan
All quotes →You look how much sugar is in a typical supermarket loaf of bread: it's a lot of sugar. It's just become one of those sugar delivery systems in our food economy.
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There is nothing wrong with eating sweets, fried foods, pastries, even drinking soda every now and then, but food manufacturers have made eating these formerly expensive and hard-to-make treats so cheap and easy that we're eating them every day.
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Meat is a mighty contributor to climate change and other environmental problems. The amount of meat we're eating is one of the leading causes of climate change. It's as important as the kind of car you drive - whether you eat meat a lot or how much meat you eat.
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[Government] regulation is an imperfect substitute for the accountability, and trust, built into a market in which food producers meet the gaze of eaters and vice versa.
Michael PollanRead
He showed the words “chocolate cake” to a group of Americans and recorded their word associations. “Guilt” was the top response. If that strikes you as unexceptional, consider the response of French eaters to the same prompt: “celebration.
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