Living like a bacterium
The professor’s active life can largely be attributed to what he has learned from the way bacteria live and from humanity’s great philosophers—insights that he lives by and has described in his book ‘Det største i det mindste’ (The Greatest in the Least), published in the autumn of 2024:
“It’s about finding the balance between having a direction in life and being present in the moment. And here we can learn from bacteria, because they have a very clear goal for themselves—while at the same time relating to their circumstances in a very immediate way.”
It is basically about investing time and energy in setting clearly defined goals for your life that are in line with your fundamental values, he explains. It will set out the direction you need to take and show you how to act in everyday situations:
“We’re often influenced greatly by external factors and other people’s opinions about what we should or should not do, or pressure from society. But if you are aware of your own values and goals, you can act in a way that brings you closer to those goals instead.”
It’s important for Morten Sommer to emphasize that he does not believe that certain goals are right or wrong in themselves. They just have to make sense to the person who sets them.
The professor himself has a document that contains the values he strives for—including living in a way that cares for the planet and prioritizing time with his family and closest friends. He reviews it annually but looks at it weekly to calibrate his course.
This exercise has, for example, led him to give up his weekly soccer games with a group of friends in order to free up more time for his family. He was already engaged in other physical activity—also one of his values—and to keep up with his close friends, he included them in his family time.
Living sustainably
The interest in enabling humanity to live within planetary boundaries has actually followed Morten Sommer throughout his career: from his early years, when he did a PhD on the production of biofuel from plant residues, to today, where he is the co-founder of Matr Foods, which sells meat alternatives that can help consumers eat more plant-based diets.
His interest in living more sustainably actually led him to write the book ‘Er mit liv bæredygtigt’? (Is my life sustainable?), which was published two months after the book about what bacteria can teach us. It provides insight into the science behind sustainability assessments and describes how consumer choices in transport, housing, food, and consumption of items such as clothing and electronics affect our footprint on the planet.
“I think it’s very difficult to figure out what’s most important if you want to make a difference. And if I feel that way, despite the fact that it’s something I spend a lot of time on, I can only imagine it must be even harder for people who don’t even work in the field,” explains Morten Sommer about the book, which was written with the help of colleagues across DTU as an informational and self-help book with no desire to judge people’s choices:
“I’m not saying you should do this or don’t drive a car or whatever—and I don’t believe you should judge other people for what they do.”
However, the book has not only given consumers food for thought but also sparked debate among researchers because the DTU team uses a different calculation method than the standard one to assess the impact of fossil fuel-powered cars versus electric cars. With this, the benefits of electric cars are not as great as in other calculations.
Morten Sommer is disappointed if the debate about the method overshadows the fact that researchers generally agree on the broad outlines of how to steer our lives in a more sustainable direction:
“I think it’s important that people know the consequences of their actions, so that they don’t think it doesn’t matter whether they do one thing or another. It does make a difference!” he emphasizes.
