Friday 18 March 2011

What it is like to be a bat?

How can people have diametrically opposite views and still think they are right and their views are logical. I came across this seminal paper in an entirely different field: "What it is like to be a bat". This paper is a masterpiece and it says why it is difficult (or rather impossible) to feel or see others perspective because every individual's consciousness is non-intrusive. In fact, it raises some profound yet simple questions by asking similar questions like what it is like to hate coffee, what is it like to like chocolate etc. These are impossible to answer unless you experience it. How can you answer the question of what it is like to hate coffee when you actually love coffee. This applies to my conversations with others. It is impossible to see the opposite person's views because "I am not him". Each person is very very unique, they are the product of their experiences, memories, emotions etc and they all have a profound effect on his views on different topics which I may never understand. I think this also applies to religious beliefs, tastes (in my view Aishwarya Rai is the most beautiful person in the world and many might not agree to this), personal preferences etc. In fact, it is fun to ask these questions and some new questions which might be unique to you. Can you answer this: What it is like to be Krishna?