JITOTM12: To Be A Bat

Have you ever asked yourself what it's like to be a bat? Probably not, but you'd surely admit that it's a curious question. After all, bats experience the world really differently than we do. What with the wings, the sonar, the sense of smell, the constant pursuit of bugs and mealworms and all the rest, being a bat has to be pretty weird, from a human perspective at least.

So weird, in fact, that the mind of a bat is a place where even philosophers think twice before entering. Thomas Nagel explored the idea of being a bat in a landmark paper, appropriately titled "What Is It Like to be a Bat?" Don't count on Nagel for the answer to his own question though. He argues that although we can be creative about imagining ourselves with wings and sonar, we really can't have any idea what a bat feels like... actually being a bat.

But what does that mean? If we can't what it's like for a bat to be a bat, can we even imagine what it's like for another person to be themselves? Curiouser and curiouser!

Take a journey on the wings of philosophical enquiry into the deep cave of consciousness in Episode 12 of Jay Ingram's Theatre of the Mind, To Be A Bat.

Behind the curtain

• The Song of the Week was "The Short Song" by Angie Nussey
  
  
• Really curious? Nagel's "What Is It Like To Be A Bat" in PDF should keep you busy.

The paper is dense enough that it's about all the homework we could justify this week. In this episode, we enjoyed exploring the early childhod memories you sent in after a previous podcast. How about telling us about your bat-sense for future discussion?

Send your comments and questions to us by email, or just hit the comment button below.

We thank you for listening... we're listening too.

This audio portion of this episode of Jay Ingram's Theatre of the Mind has now been archived and is no longer available.
You can listen to new episodes as they are published by subscribing to our RSS feed. It's easy and free- just click on the icon below.

Subscribe to Jay Ingram's Theatre of the Mind.