Five years Quote by Johann Hari
““Given the number of species in the world, aren't there others who want to get high, or stoned, or drunk? This question set him on a path that would take twenty-five years of his life, studying the drug-taking habits of animals from the mongooses of Hawaii to the elephants of South Africa to the grasshoppers of Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia. It was such an implausible mission that in one marijuana field in Hawaii, he was taken hostage by the local drug dealers, because when he told them he was there to see what happened when mongooses ate marijuana, they thought it was the worst police cover story they ever heard. What Ronald K. Siegel discovered seems strange at first. Noah's Ark, he found, would have looked a lot like London on a Saturday night.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Anatomy of a Misfit, Johann Hari, 2015
The passage describes a researcher’s long, unconventional study of animal drug use, highlighting absurd situations and surprising findings about animal behavior.
In simple terms: A scientist studied drug use in many animals, encountering odd events.
Key Takeaway
Explore unexpected research paths.
Themes
science
curiosity
ethics
Mood
intrigued
cautious
Type
narrative
informative
When to use this quote
- biology
- anthropology
- psychiatry
- drug policy
Key Concepts
animal behavior
substance use
fieldwork
Questions to Reflect On
- What ethical limits exist in such studies?
- How do unexpected findings reshape our view of nature?
A Different Perspective
Research can lead to bizarre, risky encounters.
![“So Bruce came to believe, as he put it, that “today’s flood of addiction27 is occurring because our hyperindividualistic, frantic, crisis-ridden society makes most people feel social[ly] or culturally isolated. Chronic isolation causes people to look for relief. They find temporary relief in…” quote by Johann Hari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cef/johann-hari-20885_addiction_so-bruce-came-to-believe-as-he-put-it-th_1338996.jpg)
