My 10 most read Springer Nature articles; "Wasted GDP in the USA" read 20.000+ times

According to Springer Nature, these are my most accessed Springer articles (prior rank refers to March 2025 list; as does prior number of accesses):  

1 (2). Wasted GDP in the USA (Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2023) 20.228 (14.297) 

2 (1). The Ethics of Laying Hen Genetics (Mia Fernyhough et al., Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2019) 18.088 (14.986)  

3 (3). Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change (Biosemiotics, 2009) 7.557 (6.175)    

4 (4). Phenomenology and Biosemiotics (Morten Tønnessen, Timo Maran & Alexei Sharov, Biosemiotics, 2018) 7.001 (5.675)    

5 (5). Jesper Hoffmeyer’s Biosemiotic Legacy (Morten Tønnessen, Alexei Sharov & Timo Maran, Biosemiotics, 2019) 4.890 (3.789)    

6 (6). Current Human Ecology in the Amazon and beyond: a Multi-Scale Ecosemiotic Approach (Biosemiotics, 2020) 4.782 (3.673)   

7 (7). Towards Synthesis of Biology and Semiotics (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2015) 3.891 (3.022)

8 (9). Comprehending the Semiosis of Evolution (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2016) 3.602 (2.892) 

9 (-) Introduction to the special issue "Umwelt theory and phenomenology" (Carlo Brentari & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2024) 3.589

10 (8). Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2020 (Claudio Julio Rodríguez Higuera & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2021) 3.383 (2.908) 

"Making the Umwelt Bubble of the Modern Synthesis Burst" (Biosemiotics, 2021), with its 3.112 accesses (2.552), is thus out of the list, while "The evolutionary origin(s) of the Umwelt" (Biosemiotics, 2022), with 3.344 accesses, did not quite make the top 10. Altogether Springer Nature lists 24 publications of mine with a total of ca. 94.700 accesses and some 281 registered citations. The top 10 accounts for 76.536 accesses.

See also:

My 10 most read Springer Nature articles; ca. 60.000 accesses in total (March 2025)

"My 10 most accessed articles with Springer Nature; ca. 44.000 accesses combined" (November 2023)

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.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" surpasses "The ethics of laying hen genetics" as my most read article, with 17.000 accesses

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA", which was published Autumn 2023, now has 17.000 accesses. This compares to about 14.000 accesses by March this year, and likely makes it my most read article, ahead of "The ethics of laying hen genetics" (2019) which now stands at 16.000 accesses.

See also:

My 10 most read Springer Nature articles; ca. 60.000 accesses in total (March 2025)

Popular science chronicle on life on and in Earth catching on online

My popular science chronicle on life on and in Earth which was published in Forskersonen at forskning.no yesterday (see yesterday´s post) has done quite well online, with close to 500 likes and 50 shares on Facebook. It also appears to be the third most read text right now in Forskersonen (though not at forskning.no generally).

My 10 most read Springer Nature articles; ca. 60.000 accesses in total

According to Springer Nature, these are my most accessed Springer articles:

1 (1). The Ethics of Laying Hen Genetics (Mia Fernyhough et al., Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2019) 14.986 (12.924)  

2 (3). Wasted GDP in the USA (Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2023) 14.297 (5.144)  

3 (2). Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change (Biosemiotics, 2009) 6.175 (5.155)  

4 (4). Phenomenology and Biosemiotics (Morten Tønnessen, Timo Maran & Alexei Sharov, Biosemiotics, 2018) 5.675 (4.648)  

5 (5). Jesper Hoffmeyer’s Biosemiotic Legacy (Morten Tønnessen, Alexei Sharov & Timo Maran, Biosemiotics, 2019) 3.789 (3.279)  

6 (6). Current Human Ecology in the Amazon and beyond: a Multi-Scale Ecosemiotic Approach (Biosemiotics, 2020) 3.673 (3.041) 

7 (7). Towards Synthesis of Biology and Semiotics (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2015) 3.022 (2.672)  

8 (8). Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2020 (Claudio Julio Rodríguez Higuera & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2021) 2.908 (2.644)  

9 (9). Comprehending the Semiosis of Evolution (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2016) 2.892 (2.546)  

10 (10). Making the Umwelt Bubble of the Modern Synthesis Burst (Biosemiotics, 2021) 2.552 (2.131)  

Combined these 10 articles have been accessed 59.969 times to date (vs. 44.184 as of November 2023, meaning they have been accessed a total of 15.785 times over the last one and a half year or so). My two most read articles account for almost half of the total of the top 10 articles, and "Wasted GDP in the USA" accounts for more than half of my top 10 article reads since November 2023. 

I gave a similar overview in the post "My 10 most accessed articles with Springer Nature; ca. 44.000 accesses combined" (November 2023). Changes in ranking and number of accesses are shown above.

See also:

"Wasted GDP in the USA" reaches 12.000 accesses (September 2024)

The 39 most read texts on my ResearchGate profile (July 2023)

 Webstats, Scribd: 14 documents with 1,000+ reads (January 2014)

Academic readings 2024; most read authors

In 2024 I have logged that I have read some 6172,5 pages of academic texts. This is quite a bit more than the 4546 pages I logged in 2023, and a good step towards earlier highs. Apart from students I supervise at ph.d., MA or BA level, the authors I read the most of included Jakob von Uexkülll, Jason Hickel, Dag Hessen, Philip Goff, Alice Crary and Lori Gruen.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" reaches 12.000 accesses

My journal article "Wasted GDP in the USA", published October 2023, has now reached 12.000 accesses, according to the publisher´s article website. It remains my second-most read article after "The ethics of laying hen genetics" (2019) which has had 14.000 accesses.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" reached 10.000 Article accesses

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA", published last October, has now reached 10.000 Article accesses. This is the quickest any of my articles have reached that many reads.

Ca. 4.500 pages of academic reading in 2023; partial recovery; most read authors

In 2023 I have logged 4.546 pages of academic reading with authors identified, distributed among 442 different authors. While not quite back at old heights, this is a significant step up from the lackluster reading of the last few years when I was in leadership positions (2019-2022), and was frustrated by not having time to read. In the good old days early in my academic career, however, I read close to 10.000 pages a year. As a Professor, I would absolutely like to have more time to read than I have had the last year. 

These were the most read authors in 2023.

Web stats

Following my post on most read documents at Scribd the last year or so, here's an update on overall web stats.

Scribd - totals (change since January 26th 2011)
Total reads: 27.842 (+11.497)
Uploads: 47 (+19)
Followers: 18 (-)

Web stats, all-time (change since January 26th 2011, see also post dated June 9th 2010)

1. Utopisk Realisme 36.514 (+18.012)
2. Utopian Realism 15.616 (+8.310)
3. SemioPhenomenon 3.495 (+270)
4. The Schopenhauer Experience 750 (+187)

I am further the webmaster of arnei100.no, but I am not integrating that here. Post to follow on that.

Altogether my two main blogs and my documents on Scribd resulted in 37.819 displays online the last year, bringing the total to approximately the double of what it was, at 79.972. At current pace there are in average above 100 displays of my work or writings every day online through these sources.

Most read at Scribd

These are those of my documents at Scribd that have had the most reads as of now (number of reads as of January 26th 2011 in parenthesis):

Scribd Top 15 - in English
1. (1) The statistician's guide to Utopia: The future of growth 1.989 (+458) No. 5/2011

2. (4) Utopian Realism 2009 1.166 (+443) No. 6/2011

3. (3) Steps to a semiotics of being (ppt) 1.037 (+242) No. 9/2011
4. (-) Curriculum Vitae of Morten Tønnessen [Feb 3 2011] 1.034 (+1.034) No. 1/2011

6. (5) Umwelt transition: Uexküllian phenomenology (research plan) 775 (+190)

7. (-) Utopian Realism 2010 761 (+761) No. 2/2011

8. (-) Bibliography of Morten Tønnessen [Feb 3 2011] 730 (+730) No. 3/2011

9. (6) Semio (poster) 611 (+127)
10. (7) Environmental problems in light of Gabriel Marcel's distinction problem/mystery 575 (+185)

11. (10) Signs grow, but should they? 519 (+221) No. 10/2011

12. (12) ABSTRACT The nature view held by environmentalists 513 (+258) No. 8/2011

13. (-) Program Zoosemiotics and Animal Representations 503 (+503) No. 4/2011

14. (8) POSTER The nature view held by environmentalists 497 (+133)

15. (-) The bio-translator - Interview with biosemiotician Kalevi Kull 411 (+411) No. 7/2011

Scribd Top 10 - in Norwegian

1. (1) Utopisk Realisme 2009 2.007 (+747) No. 1/2011
2. (3) Om fluer og filosofi (intervju med Arne Næss) 1.417 (+340) No. 3/2011

3. (2) Historieløst om klima 1.350 (+264) No. 6/2011

4. (5) Burlesk vitenskapsparodi 895 (+248) No. 7/2011

5. (4) Hvem har ansvaret for volden? 864 (+129) No. 9/2011

6. (6) Tidsvitne (omslag) 820 (+182) No. 8/2011

7. (7) 20 års moratorium mot oljeleting 799 (+280) No 4/2011
8. (8) Preludium til romanen HUFF 702 (+280) No 4/2011
9. (-) Utopisk Realisme 2010 659 (+659) No 2/2011/2011

10. (9) Europa i overgangsalderen 440 (+122) No. 10/2011

Scribd - in Estonian
Must naine Tartus 724 (+128)

Documents that had been inactivated prior to January 27th 2010 (such as old versions of CV, bibliography) are not included.

Where is Utopian Realism being read?

This is the top ten list of countries where this blog is being read the most (number of page views since May 2009). The total number of page views in this period was 12.902. Note that the French number includes a measure of suspicious robotic activity the last few months.

1. USA: 3.087 (24 %)
2. France: 1.478 (11 %)
3. Norway: 1.179 (9 %)
4. Russia: 936 (7 %)
5. Germany: 767 (6 %)
6. The Netherlands: 409 (3 %)
7. UK: 382 (3 %)
8. Canada: 286 (2 %)
9. Ukrain: 246 (2 %)
10. Iran: 233 (2 %)

Greetings to all - including to those 30 % of my readers that are from yet other parts of the world!

Ten most popular blog posts

These are the ten most read blog posts in Utopian Realism since May 2009. Are there any patterns? I see two, at the top 5: An interest in the local, Norwegian theme of Filosofisk Forum/UiA Philosophy Forum, and a coincidential general interest for the keywords "Play, love etc." Apart from the no. 2, the most read semiotic themes are all in the second half of the top 10 list.

Play, love etc. - UiA Philosophy Forum in preparat... 17. des. 2009: 196 Sidevisninger

Joining the editorial board of Biosemiotics 19. jan. 2010 :169 Sidevisninger

Filosofisk Forum - looking back, and ahead 29. apr. 2010 :140 Sidevisninger

Silent in Filosofisk forum 6. okt. 2010: 132 Sidevisninger

Committee for UiA Philosophy Forum 11. nov. 2009: 126 Sidevisninger

Zoosemiotics email list - how to register 10. apr. 2011: 108 Sidevisninger

A not very flattering invitation 24. okt. 2010, 2 kommentarer: 105 Sidevisninger

The base variants of semiotic causation 28. mai 2011: 98 Sidevisninger

Nordic semiotics conference - program (where are t... 9. apr. 2011: 93 Sidevisninger

Course description: Semiotics and phenomenology 1. mars 2011: 84 Sidevisninger

Readings, spring 2011

The first 6 months of 2011 I read (according to my log) 4.530 pages of academic literature. This compares to 25,0 pages a day, or 175,2 pages a week.

These were the thinkers I read most about:

And these were the authors I read the most by:

Most read (about) 2010

Most read 2010
1. Arne Næss (no. 5 in 2009)
2. Michael Polanyi
3. John Deely (no. 1 in 2009)

Most read about 2010
1. Aristotle (no. 1 in 2009)
2. Michael Polanyi
3. Plato (no. 5 in 2009)
4. Jakob von Uexküll (no. 6 in 2009)
5. Augustine (no. 10 in 2009)

Cf. the post 2010: Work hours; readings.

Web stats and most viewed at Scribd

Webstats, all-time (change since June 9th 2010)
1. Utopisk Realisme 18.502 (+4.495)
2. Utopian Realism 7.306 (+2.946)
3. SemioPhenomenon 3.225 (+252)
4. The Schopenhauer Experience 563 (+145)

Scribd - in English
1. (1) The statistician's guide to Utopia: The future of growth 1.531 (+442) No. 2
2. (6) Curriculum Vitae of Morten Tønnessen [May 1st 2010] 1,086 reads (+753) No. 1
3. (2) Steps to a semiotics of being (ppt) 795 (+228) No. 4
4. (3) Utopian Realism 2009 723 (+249) No. 3
5. (4) Umwelt transition: Uexküllian phenomenology (research plan) 585 (+204) No. 5
6. (5) Semio (poster) 484 (+106)
7. (7) Environmental problems in light of Gabriel Marcel's distinction problem/mystery 390 (+84)
8. (8) POSTER The nature view held by environmentalists 364 (+84)
9. (9) ABSTRACT The nature view held by environmentalists 363 (+110)
10. (10) Signs grow, but should they? 298 (+80)
11. (11) Reversing the brain drain 260 (+69)
12. (12) The nature view held by environmentalists 255 (+92)
13. (13) 'Tell me, where is morality bred?' (The semioethics interviews 1) 233 (+93)

Scribd - in Norwegian
1. (2) Utopisk Realisme 2009 1.260 (+488) No. 1
2. (1) Historieløst om klima 1.086 (+233) No. 4
3. (3) Om fluer og filosofi (intervju med Arne Næss) 1.077 (+404) No. 2
4. (4) Hvem har ansvaret for volden? 735 (+94)
5. (5) Burlesk vitenskapsparodi 647 (+228) No. 5
6. (6) Tidsvitne (omslag) 638 (+261) No. 3
7. (7) 20 års moratorium mot oljeleting 519 (+214)
8. (8) Preludium til romanen HUFF 422 (+127)
9. (9) Europa i overgangsalderen 318 (+80)
10. (11) Svart bok 1998 301 (+93)
11. (10) Jakob von Uexküll og øyets verden 292 (+68)

Scribd - in Estonian
Must naine Tartus 596 (+151)

Scribd - totals
Total reads: 16.345 (+5.183)
Uploads: 28 (+3)
Followers: 18 (+1)

Biosemiotics - most downloaded

The journal Biosemiotics has for a while now been exceptionally accessible for free downloads. These are the 5 most downloaded articles the last 90 days:

309	What is an Animal?Pain, Stephen
172	Introduction to the Special Issue Semiotics of Perception Being in the World of the Living—Semiotic PerspectivesLindström, Kati,Tønnessen, Morten
138	Steps to a Semiotics of BeingTønnessen, Morten
131	Ecosystems are Made of Semiosic Bonds: Consortia, Umwelten, Biophony and Ecological CodesKull, Kalevi
117	Autocommunication and Perceptual Markers in Landscape: Japanese ExamplesLindström, Kati

Pain's "What is an Animal" - a book review from 2009 - tops the list the last 30 days (when the 'Semiotics of Perception' intro was downloaded 60 times, at no. 2) and the last 7 days as well. On the two most recent lists (last 30/7 days), Marcello Barbieri's "Three Types of Semiosis", also from 2009, comes in as no. 3/2.

2010: Work hours; readings

Being the number-prone nerd that I am, I regularly count (and classify) my work hours, and what I read in an academic context.

Work hours
While a normal Norwegian work year is approximately 1650 hours, I worked 2833 hours in 2009 (172%) and a record 3029 hours in 2010 (184% - + 196 hours). In 2010, I classified 67,8% of these work hours as 'Academic work', 12,6% as 'Writing' and 19,7% as 'Other work' , which includes my attempts to commercialize my competence as a philosopher (I will spare you for the details - finer categories).

Readings
I took note of reading 8.918 pages in 2009, and 9,392 pages in 2010 (+474), altogether 18.310 pages 2009-10. Readings in the second half of 2010 represented 275 authors ('written by') and 240 thinkers ('written about'). Top ten for the latter:

1. Aristotle
2. Plato
3. Trotskij
4. Augustine
5. Jakob von Uexküll
6. Socrates
7. Kalevi Kull
8. Marx
9. Husserl
10. John Deely

Read

In the 1st half of 2010, my reading log shows I have read 4.486pp, written by 199 authors (abstracts included). If this (not very quick) reading pace keeps up (as it has of late), I may read something like 36,000pp during my 4 year PhD studies.

Author Top 5 (in parenthesis: second half of 2009, first half):

1 (-, 53). Michael Polanyi

2 (-). Ralph H. Lutts

3 (6, 26). Arne Næss

4 (12, 1). John Deely

5 (-). Walter Gulick

The following thinkers have been treated the most in what I have read these 6 months (out of 218 thinkers logged):

1 (-). Michael Polanyi

2 (10, 5). Jakob von Uexküll

3 (16, 1). Charles Sanders Peirce

4 (18), 10. Thomas Sebeok

5 (29, 18). Maurice Merleau-Ponty

6 (-). Marjorie Grene

7 (5, 11). René Descartes

8 (-). William J. Long

9 (3, 18). Immanuel Kant

10. Aristotle (2, 3), Heidegger (14, 7), Theodore Roosevelt (-)

As we see, scientist-come-philosopher Michael Polanyi (1891-1976) - who I first read last spring - tops both lists, and I have also taken interest in his part-colleague Marjorie Grene (1910-2009), who's #7 at the author list and #6 in the about-list. For totally unrelated top 10-lists, including 10 Truly Awful Ways To Be Killed By An Animal, see Listverse.