A lesson from nature against the myth of the strongest

“The innovative point of the book is to free the predator-prey relationship from the cultural fable of the fittest”, explains the author. “In nature the predator is not ‘bad’, but follows an energetic strategy. The problem arises when we transform that figure into a general model of value, to the point of believing that whoever dominates is more intelligent, whoever wins is right and whoever is vulnerable is lacking.”

Through examples taken from the animal world and a dialogue between biology, epigenetics and social sciences, the volume proposes an alternative reading of vulnerability, interpreting it not as a condition of weakness, but as a quality capable of promoting adaptation, innovation and resilience. According to Tucci, for decades Western culture has identified the leader with someone who manages to impose himself on others. “A society that mistakes predation for leadership ends up rewarding not those who know how to make systems last, but those who know how to consume them faster,” he observes.

The book extends this reflection well beyond the natural world, addressing topics ranging from economics to politics, from technology to mental well-being. The objective is to offer an original interpretation of the great contemporary crises, marked by climate change, geopolitical instability and growing concentration of power.

“The logic of prey is not a celebration of weakness. It is a theory of duration,” concludes Tucci. “In times of ecological crisis, political instability and concentration of power, the decisive question is not who dominates today. It is who will be able to continue tomorrow without destroying the world on which it depends.”

Published in the Bompiani Saggistica Italiana series, “The intelligence of prey” is an essay that invites us to reread the concept of leadership through the lens of science, suggesting that the future could belong not to the strongest, but to those who know how to build more sustainable balances. (by Paolo Martini)