“What Is It Like to Be a Bat?,” published in 1974 by the philosopher Thomas Nagel ... One might try to imagine, Nagel wrote, “that one has very poor vision, an

“What Is It Like to Be a Bat?,” published in 1974 by the philosopher Thomas Nagel ... One might try to imagine, Nagel wrote, “that one has very poor vision, and perceives the surrounding world by a system of reflected high-frequency sound signals,” or that “one has webbing on one’s arms, which enables one to fly around at dusk and dawn catching insects in one’s mouth.” But that wouldn’t help much. “I want to know what it is like for a bat to be a bat,” Nagel insisted. From that quote something crystalized in my mind, the essense of understanding other people. (I would guess Nagel intended that.) Often we assume our own perspective is reality. When think that ours is just perception and we try to think of someone else's perspective, I would guess that the great majority of the time, we imagine ourselves in their shoes - 'what would I do?' - essentially, 'how would I apply my perspective to their situation?' To actually understand another person, we need to know "what it is like for a bat to be a bat"; what their experience is like from their perspective, with their prior experiences, emotions, needs, motives, position (physically, socially, etc.), distractions, concerns, perceptual ability, cognitive abilities, etc. etc. For example, sometimes we tell drug addicts to 'get a job' or at least to go through recovery. That's our perspective. When we think of theirs, we often think that, in their shoes, we would do those things. But I have no idea what it's like to be a drug addict on the streets; and even more, I don't know what in their life led them there, and what those experiences are like. I'm fortunate, for example, not to have had parents who were drug addicts; I have a hard time imagining where I would be - would I be educated, for example. I don't have their fears, strengths, traumas, joys, emotional capacities, I've never been in the position of having nothing at all, I've never felt the drive of addiction. It doesn't just apply to strangers, but even more to people we know - family, friends, co-workers. What is it like for them to be them?