with an unsolved problem. “Listen to the ocean”, urges Anders Omstedt

Listening to the wisdom of the ocean

Do the oceans have anything to tell us? Yes, argues Anders Omstedt.

He has written a book where scientific facts sit side by side with intuition, poetry and photographs of coastal areas – and where the inspiration comes directly from conversations with the ocean itself.

EVERYBODY LOVES THE SEA. That is where life itself emerged four billion years ago and it is also where we human beings originated and the source of much of what we eat. – I have always been fascinated by the ocean, tried to understand how it works, what regulates currents and all the varieties of life. The oceans also produce oxygen and absorb carbon, and many of us long to go to the sea when we have time off, Anders Omstedt, Emeritus Professor of Oceanography, observes.

The mismanagement of the oceans increased sharply after the Second World War with increased pollution, over-fertilization, more efficient fishing methods, oil extraction and a chemical industry that spewed out hazardous substances. That is also when the accumulation of the large quantities of plastic began, which is currently threatening marine life.

– IN 2050, the population of the world is estimated to reach 10 billion. Seventy percent are expected to live in cities, where the coastal regions will be even more exploited than they are today. Overfishing and emissions are expected to rise, and in addition we will see acidification and a number of other effects as a consequence of climate change. A new attitude to the oceans should be of the highest priority, and yet the mismanagement of the oceans continue.

Scientists and politicians have talked for decades about the importance of creating a sustainable society. But something is missing from the discourse, Anders Omstedt argues. – Facts are important, but they are not enough to change our behaviour. The analytical thinking and problem-solving ability that is practised within the natural sciences are incredibly important, but the scientific approach must be combined with other sources of knowledge. It is about practising intuition, empathy and self-reflection, in the way that is done in the humanities and art, and then connecting this with the natural sciences. One method of practising this is through dream work, where intuition and analytical thinking open up new lines of thought.

IN HIS BOOK, Anders Omstedt describes how the oceans send pictures to him through dreams, which forces him to listen and try to find new interpretations. Images in his mind of birds with plastic in their stomachs can be interpreted as a metaphor for the inadequate mental health of our species. But how do you understand a dream about kelp? – Kelp can grow into dense forests with many biological features and tremendous biodiversity. I interpret the dream as a reminder that human societies can also grow in the same way, with room for many different people in healthy surroundings. It all depends on how we humans cooperate.

Anders Omstedt believes that poems can also increase our understanding of nature. Such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner from

Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

Anders Omstedt

1798, which is about a mariner’s agony upon killing an albatross, something that can be likened to what we might feel today about all the plastic that is spreading throughout the oceans. – We think destructively and have problematic values. One topical example is how people hoarded toilet paper and pasta at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of realising that we need to share our resources. Within the forestry industry, there is a rule that states you have to plant a few new trees for every tree you cut down; that is of course important, but you must not forget to do it in a way that creates harmony in the forest, enabling nature to grow in harmony and people to enjoy being there.

SCIENCE, THE HUMANITIES and art should all cooperate much like a symphony orchestra, says Anders Omstedt. – Naturally, the different musicians must be skilled in their own instruments,

– People within natural sciences, the humanities and art have a lot to learn from one another, says Anders Omstedt.

but in order to understand the piece they are playing they must also learn about the roles of the other musicians. In the same way, it is not enough to have interdisciplinary projects where, say, mathematicians, chemists and economists collaborate. Each representative of a discipline must also learn to understand the importance of the other representatives to the joint project.

IT IS THINKING in combination with emotion that gives us knowledge, and provides the conditions for changing our abuse of the oceans, Anders Omstedt points out. – One important challenge for academic education is to interconnect the natural sciences and the humanities. In her poem, My River Runs to Thee, Emily Dickinson expresses how we all carry the sea within us. Our need for the sea is also a longing to be part of a greater whole. Art offers a way of satisfying that longing, just like literature, music and, not least, our own dreams.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photos: Hillevi Nagel

Fakta

Anders Omstedt’s book, A Philosophical View of the Ocean and Humanity, is published by Springer Nature. A number of the photographs were taken by Hillevi Nagel. The book describes the oceans from several scientific perspectives. It emphasises the need to change human behaviour and our relationship with the oceans. It provides unique concepts of how the natural sciences and the humanities can be interconnected in order to achieve behavioural change.