#7,5

Today I have had a book writing day, with research done on current industry news and other news related to carbon capture and more generally the climate issue. This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 7,5, including 3 book writing days.

#6,5

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 100 words added to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome) which I co-write with Svein Tuastad. Most importantly, I continued conducting the media search and analysis related to the article´s climate policy case study.

This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 6,5, including 4,5 article writing days.

Umwelt theory and phenomenology article lauded in 2024 semiotics review article

In the article "Technological futures in semiotics: The year 2024 in review", published in Sign Systems Studies, Auli Viidalepp and Alin Olteanu have some kind words about my research related to Umwelt theory and its relevance for phenomenology. The article they refer to is "Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology", which is openly available online.

Excerpt:

Drawing on umwelt theory, Morten Tønnessen (2024) takes new steps towards a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology. The value of his contribution as an integral and transdisciplinary framework cannot be overestimated. Tønnessen also indicates potential further applicability of the applied umwelt theory across 17 fields of research that study the perception and behaviour of humans and/or animals. To name a few less common perspectives, this framework could help in behavioural reframing of human ecology, address Anthropocene discourses in environmental humanities, model potential lifeworlds for astrobiology, or enrich psychological lifeworld studies, especially in “socio-ecological contexts and settings that involve human–animal interaction” (Tønnessen 2024: 334). The theory is also relevant for well-established epistemic communities such as the fields of sociology, political science, anthropology, (behavioural) economics, speculative and futures studies, and many others (Tønnessen 2024). In similar lines, we note Anton Markoš and Jana Švorcová’s (2024) theoretical development of the umwelt theory in regard to symbiosis.

#5,5

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 100 words written on my scientific monograph in spe Being and Sign, and - more importantly - some readings done. This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 5,5, including 2 book writing days.

#4,5

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 600 words written in the process of composing an extended abstract for the article now titled "Climate economics imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth", which I have submitted to a special issue on the history of climate economics of the journal Œconomia – History / Methodology / Philosophy. This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 4,5, including 3,5 article writing days.

Program council now featured on Wonderful World festival´s homepage

The program council for Wonderful World - Den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap is now featured on the festival´s homepage.

#3,5

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 100 words added to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome) which I co-write with Svein Tuastad. Most importantly, I started conducting the media search and analysis related to the article´s climate policy case study.

I also communicated with Store Norske Leksikon editorial staff on my assignments for 2026, and read and assessed peer-reviews (organised by Residential Treatment for Children & Youth) of the article "Friluftsliv in therapeutic residential care: When staff take youth out to find a way in", which I co-write with Joakim Jiri Haaland.

This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 3,5, including 2,5 article writing days. 

#2,5

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 800 words added to the manuscript of my scientific monograph in spe Being and Sign. This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 2,5, including 1 book writing day.

#1,5

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 200 words added to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome) which I co-write with Svein Tuastad. Moreover, I looked into a revised version of a Live Better article manuscript. Finally; I prepared and submitted the manuscript "Kan velferd og miljø måles i forlengelsen av BNP?", which I have co-written with Jan Karlstrøm, to Samfunn og økonomi.

This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 1,5.

#1

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 150 words added to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome) which I co-write with Svein Tuastad. This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 1.

91 exam papers graded

Over the last few weeks I have graded 91 exam papers in Ex.phil. at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is tailored for the university´s bachelor in psychology.

Online semiotics workshop for University of Oran1 – Algeria scheduled, then delayed

I was scheduled to present a paper titled «Semiotics, animals, environment – Umwelt theory in the tradition of the Tartu-Copenhagen school of biosemiotics» online for University of Oran1 – Algeria, on Thursday January 8th, but pending formal approval this workshop has now been indeterminately delayed.

Writing plan for Spring 2026 completed

I have now completed my writing plan for Spring 2026. I plan for a total of 59,5 writing days, including 45 article writing days (76%) and 14,5 book writing days (24%). This is somewhat less than last Spring (68,5 writing days initially planned) but more than Spring 2024 (47,5 writing days initially planned).

See also:

#0,5; writing plan for Spring 2025 almost finished

Book review on research methododology now online

My book review "Kritisk realisme for viderekomne samfunnsvitere", which appeared in issue 2, 2025 of Fontene Forskning, is now also available as an online article.

See also:

Book review on critical realism published in Fontene Forskning

#0,5; writing plan for Spring 2025 almost finished

Yesterday, on my way back from New Year festivities with friends in Oslo, I had half an article writing day devoted to making a writing plan for Spring 2026 (January to June). I had previously made plans for January, and now made further plans for February until early June. I have to finish up today. 

This brings the number of writing days this Spring up to 0,5 (thus the title "#0,5").

Summing up the work year 2025

I have just summed up my work year in 2025 based on my log of working hours. 2025 was my second shortest work year in living memory (with my work log going back to 2009), with an average work week of 46,2 hours all weeks in the year included. This amounts to 2409 work hours, which compares to 143% of an ordinary work year. 

This year I also summed up my work/life balance, focused on sleeplessness, karate training and meditation.

Overall, the work year was characterized by making room for finishing the manuscript for my book originally titled Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement and now titled Carbon Capture and the Future of Environmentalism. I so did, in early August 2025. In my work log, this is reflected in the fact that book projects had the highest share of total work on record, and ended up as the largest category of work for the first time. Moreover, the share of my work time I spent on research plus book projects was the highest ever. Book projects was also the category whose share of all work hours increased the most from 2024. 

See also:

Summing up the work year 2022

2024: Shortest work year in living memory, at "only" 138% of normal work year

Academic readings 2025; most read authors

Over the last year I have logged academic readings amounting to 5.357,5 pages. This is somewhat less than in 2024, but somewhat more than what I read in 2023. Altogether I logged texts written by 350 different authors. On the 40 most read authors, 27 were duty-related (related to teaching, supervision, committee work etc (including 12 of the 20 most read authors). Among the most read authors were Martin Bech Holthe, Krystof Kasprzak and Thomas Hylland Eriksen.