Tim Ferriss

May 2, 2024

Craig Foster of My Octopus Teacher — How to Find the Wild in a Tame World (#735)

“I was born wild. I’m a wild animal. These creatures that I interact with taught me I’m a wild animal. It was almost like I was walking along the shore and then that ocean to the one side was my wild self and the land to the right was this tame self. And I was trying desperately to find a balance.”
— Craig Foster

Craig Foster (@seachangeproject) is an Oscar- and BAFTA-winning filmmaker, naturalist, author, and ocean explorer. His films have won more than 150 international awards. He is the co-founder of the Sea Change Project, an NGO dedicated to the long-term conservation and regeneration of the Great African Seaforest. His film My Octopus Teacher has led to making the Great African Seaforest a global icon.

His new book is Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World. Watch the video below to learn more.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube here.

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The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

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#735: Craig Foster of My Octopus Teacher — How to Find the Wild in a Tame World

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Want to hear another episode focused on human connection to nature? Listen to this conversation with hunter and conservationist Steven Rinella in which we discuss how Steven got me to overcome my lifetime aversion to hunting, why the conservation-minded non-hunting crowd should care about the decline in hunting and fishing license sales in the United States, the politics of reintroducing predator species to popular hunting grounds, close encounters of the grizzly kind, and much more.

#470: Steven Rinella on Hunting (and Why You Should Care), Reconnecting with Nature, Favorite Trips, and More

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

SHOW NOTES

[08:39] A morning ray.
[11:01] Connecting with the sea is a family tradition.
[13:24] Making The Great Dance.
[15:28] Unnatural powers granted by natural attunement.
[22:40] Observing the secret lives of animals.
[26:44] What makes Kalahari trackers so impressive?
[29:37] Connecting with nature in the big city.
[32:43] Breath holding and cold exposure.
[37:25] Land lessons via underwater tracking.
[42:55] Connecting with a Cape clawless otter.
[46:20] Interspecies alliances.
[49:39] What compelled Craig to write Amphibious Soul?
[52:58] Why pristine nature comforts and inspires us.
[1:00:03] Is ancestral memory real?
[1:04:16] Nature as a mirror.
[1:07:48] The pros and cons of discovering new species.
[1:10:03] Song catching.
[1:16:30] The meaning of “home.”
[1:19:03] Parenting lessons.
[1:23:41] The psychic cost of sudden fame.
[1:31:18] For whom was Amphibious Soul written?
[1:33:58] Sea Change Project.
[1:35:53] The short-sightedness of current climate policy.
[1:41:52] Changing entrenched minds.
[1:52:37] A camera-stealing octopus.
[1:55:25] Hope for a shift in human perspective.
[1:58:21] Parting thoughts.

MORE CRAIG FOSTER QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Just start to look at a small area where there are few insects and maybe a few birds, maybe one or two amphibians, and take notes and observe every day, just, say, for half an hour. After a while, you’ll be absolutely shocked at what you couldn’t see before. It’ll be so obvious and it was totally invisible to you before. And it’s not just about the leaves changing color, but there are thousands of these things going on that, unless you take notice, you will miss. Nature then becomes this incredible teacher.”
— Craig Foster

“If you are in an environment where there’s almost no biodiversity, your ancient creature that’s living inside you, your deep design, is terrified because it doesn’t know you can go to the supermarket. It’s just looking and feeling and hearing and smelling. There’s no life around. So the experience of going to these wilderness places tells that wild part of us that everything is okay. We just need to go and harvest a tiny bit each day and there’ll be plenty for everybody, for the family. And you feel, oh, everything’s all right, everything will be fine. This is good. This is the good life.”
— Craig Foster

“In this part of the world, you won’t believe how easy it is to find a new species. It’s the naming of it that’s an enormously difficult job.”
— Craig Foster

“When I’ve spoken to some of the scientists I work with, certainly some of the cinematographers, there’s this strange thing that the wild ecosystem is somehow mysteriously mirroring the human psyche and almost wanting to teach us and show us things way beyond where the edge of attention bias leads.”
— Craig Foster

“I walked down to the ocean and I went in that kelp forest and I looked back toward the house that was no longer there. And it struck so hard in my heart that this ocean, but also very much this planet, this original deep mother that birthed our species and it nurtured me from my whole life was actually my home, and I would be absolutely fine as long as that biodiversity and that biosphere was functioning well and was healthy.”
— Craig Foster

“If the phytoplankton communities in the ocean collapse, we stop breathing. Literally, that’s it. So every single investment that you might have in the bank or any property you might own or any future children that you might want to have, that’s game over for all that. That investment is worth zero if biodiversity collapses.”
— Craig Foster

“The planet’s fine without us. She’ll last easily without us. She’s as tough as nails and can handle anything. We are the fragile ones. So we almost need to look at our place and all the other animals that are sharing the space with us and just feel at least that gratefulness for this amazing planet that has looked after us so beautifully.”
— Craig Foster

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Will Childress

1 year ago

Bull Monroe…Father of blues?

I had a Sandlot Babe Ruth experience.

Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass!!!

It took me an hour, but found this video of Jon Young -Song of Nature talking about his song catching convo with the legend himself.

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Paul

1 year ago

Reply to Will Childress

Thank you for your comment, Will! In the future, our researcher and show notes writer may be able to save you quite a bit of time. If you scroll down the page for each podcast, you’ll find a section titled Selected Links from the Episode. It includes links to nearly everything discussed. So if you hear something in one of Tim’s interviews and would like to pursue it or get more information, do scroll down to that selected links section, and you’ll likely find a link to what you heard in the interview. Thank you for giving this one a listen!

Best,

Team Tim Ferriss

priya

1 year ago

this is really very impressive, the quotes are so motivating.

Rugile

1 year ago

I enjoyed whole interview, thank you both very much.

Sylvie

1 year ago

Thank you so much for this interview. So many layers to this conversation. I spent a lot of time (between 2013-2022) exploring the Western Cape. This region of the world is so dear to me, and Craig Foster’s account of his relationship to the kelp forrest reminds me how I miss it and hope to go back one day.

Vegecycle

1 year ago

I really enjoyed this conversation especially the part on mirroring?? Not sure if I have the terminology correct but the idea that by observing nature, nature actually draws us in and allows or enables us to see things we may not otherwise have seen. The other day I went to observe an owl who was feeding its young in a box put up by the local parks department. Upon arriving at the park I learned that the baby owls had fledged and I decided to go anyway. I went to the box and looked around in the woods hoping to catch a glimpse of the owl. To my amazement I saw it sitting in a tree a long way away and then thru the binoculars I was able to get a great view. I thought I was so clever being able to see that owl which was so well hidden, like a needle in a haystack. What if my willingness and curiosity nudged “nature” to show me something I would have never been able to see unaided? Sounds crazy…but???

Rachel

1 year ago

Thank you Tim, Craig, and Team. Fascinating episode.

I especially appreciated the discussion on words/language and conservation. So spot on. I loved your angle on reshaping beliefs and behaviors, as you so eloquently put it, “in an existential way”. I’ll have to check out the book you mentioned, Words that Work- sounds interesting.

Also- I love otters; they’re just so freaking cool. Fun to learn of their earlier relationship to humans and hunting. I never would have guessed! Sadly some people consider them to be a nuisance- because they kill too many fish! Maybe a solution is to learn to hunt with them like before, eh? haha

Iurie

1 year ago

Beautiful! Powerful and Inspiring!

Rebecca

1 year ago

I live in a small cabin in the woods. About 6600 ft above sea level. My bro died, my Mother died and my best friend shot herself in the head. What matters…right now, actually…is that it’s not about being wild man. It’s about find discipline and routine, bc that is exactly what all animals do. You are not really seeing what you need to see. Help others. Help children. Help yourself.

Carlie P.

1 year ago

As a Canadian Environmental Scientist, bowhunter and a whoo-whoo who “talks” to animals, I have to say that this was one of my favourite podcasts. Part of my job does requires listening to animals while conducting species surveys and this is a skill I carry into my personal life. Being autistic, I find that my special interest in inter-species communication takes up the majority of my headspace either in the wild or with domesticated species (dogs, horses). I look forward to following up on some of the attached resources and continuing to practice connecting to the subconscious and experiencing that inner dialogue during nature observations. If you’re ever hiring part-time, I’m interested!

Greg

1 year ago

Rules are made to be broken Tim! After listening to this I bought the book and am almost done. It has already changed the plants and animals I notice even out walking the dog. I’m lucky to live surrounded by wildness, but this has been more nuanced. I seeing the individuality of moths or noticing a couple different styles of snail shells. Thank you.