Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman Ep102 "Could you ever know what it’s like to be someone else?" (Part 1)
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Apr 28, 2025 Can we ever truly know what it’s like to be someone else? This discussion dives into the nuances of empathy, revealing gaps in understanding between individuals. It explores diverse experiences, from bats to human emotions, highlighting the complexity of consciousness. The role of literature and virtual reality in enhancing empathy takes center stage, along with the biological mechanisms behind our emotional responses. Through fascinating examples, the talk provokes curiosity about connecting with others despite inherent limitations.
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Limits of Knowing Others' Minds
- Subjective experience of others is fundamentally inaccessible to us because of our different sensory worlds and brains.
- Thomas Nagel's "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" highlights this problem of understanding other's subjective experience.
Seeing Through Another's Eyes
- David Eagleman describes seeing the world through his girlfriend's eyes by physically positioning behind her at a restaurant.
- This showed him how her smile changed social interactions, providing insight into her social experience.
Diverse Internal Experiences
- People's internal experiences vary widely, as seen in phenomena like synesthesia and aphantasia.
- These differences shape how individuals perceive words, colors, and imagery, impacting their inner worlds distinctly.
