What a wonderful missive, Kim. And what a lovely concept, unwelt. It was a bit of an epiphany, to think of creatures having a 'sensory bubble' as I watched birds in our back yard yesterday.
I'm currently reading 'The Soul of an Octopus,' by Sy Montgomery, a slightly problematic book (that fails at the onset to tackle issues regarding the study of captive animals) that is filled with information about the sensory world of octopus, so different from us and yet, perhaps not. Their sensory bubble (how they smell and taste with their arms, for example), is so different, and yet, not so much.
There's a 1974 paper by Thomas Nagel that I'm trying to track down, titled "What is it like to be a bat?" that explores our interpretation of consciousness in other creatures. It's probably a bit over my head, but also seems foundational. Have you (or has anyone) come across it?
Kim, you are awesome. I read Nagel's paper, twice. It's dense but the main point is clear and I like Nagel's references to Martians as a way of guiding our understanding of his premise. Wonderful. An I've got Yong's book on my 'to read' list, so a double plus. Thanks!
PS Sy Montgomery's book is interesting and overall it's extremely well written. I got hung up on one aspect of the book and I maintain its an elephant in the room, but worth reading nonetheless. Nagel's paper feels even closer after reading The Soul of an Octopus.
Thanks, Kim. It's a good book, but it does put the fact that it's a book about sentience where the creatures are captured, front and centre, without real discussion about how that's okay (because she is okay with it). She's a good writer, and the scenes where the author dives to find octopus in the Caribbean are wonderful. She clearly cares about her subject, but for much of the book there's an elephant in the room, as it were. I'll look for How to Be a Good Creature, and look forward to reading both An Immense World and Sounds Wild and Broken.
What a wonderful missive, Kim. And what a lovely concept, unwelt. It was a bit of an epiphany, to think of creatures having a 'sensory bubble' as I watched birds in our back yard yesterday.
I'm currently reading 'The Soul of an Octopus,' by Sy Montgomery, a slightly problematic book (that fails at the onset to tackle issues regarding the study of captive animals) that is filled with information about the sensory world of octopus, so different from us and yet, perhaps not. Their sensory bubble (how they smell and taste with their arms, for example), is so different, and yet, not so much.
There's a 1974 paper by Thomas Nagel that I'm trying to track down, titled "What is it like to be a bat?" that explores our interpretation of consciousness in other creatures. It's probably a bit over my head, but also seems foundational. Have you (or has anyone) come across it?
Just read this article reviewing three books, including Yong’s, which provides a link to Nagel’s article - https://undark.org/2022/08/05/the-animal-worlds-that-lie-beyond-our-perception/
Kim, you are awesome. I read Nagel's paper, twice. It's dense but the main point is clear and I like Nagel's references to Martians as a way of guiding our understanding of his premise. Wonderful. An I've got Yong's book on my 'to read' list, so a double plus. Thanks!
PS Sy Montgomery's book is interesting and overall it's extremely well written. I got hung up on one aspect of the book and I maintain its an elephant in the room, but worth reading nonetheless. Nagel's paper feels even closer after reading The Soul of an Octopus.
Interesting what you have to say about Sy Montgomery’s book. His other book, How to Be a Good Creature, I hear recommended often.
Thanks, Kim. It's a good book, but it does put the fact that it's a book about sentience where the creatures are captured, front and centre, without real discussion about how that's okay (because she is okay with it). She's a good writer, and the scenes where the author dives to find octopus in the Caribbean are wonderful. She clearly cares about her subject, but for much of the book there's an elephant in the room, as it were. I'll look for How to Be a Good Creature, and look forward to reading both An Immense World and Sounds Wild and Broken.