“Interview: What it’s like to be a bat” by Saul Munn

For the purposes of this transcript, some high-pitched clicking sounds have been removed. The below is an otherwise unedited transcript of an interview between Dwarkesh Patel[1] and a bat.

DWARKESH: Thanks for coming onto the podcast. It's great to have you—

BAT: Thanks for having me. Yeah.

DWARKESH: You can hear me okay? I mean, uh, all the equip—

BAT: Yep, I can hear you.

DWARKESH: Great, great. So—

BAT: I can hear your voice, too.

BAT: If that's what you were asking.

DWARKESH: What? No, I was—

BAT: Oh, “hear” probably isn’t the right word, I guess. “Sense”? No, it's not “see.” The translation suggestion thing isn’t right.

BAT: I can [inaudible] you. It's still so weird to me how humans echolocate through your eyes.

DWARKESH: Er, sorry, I was asking—

BAT: Yeah, I can also hear your voice.

DWARKESH: Uh, great. Okay.

DWARKESH: So, the question we’ve all been waiting for, haha: what is it like to be a bat?

BAT: Oh, sure. Yeah, that's been everyone's first question. I dunno, what's it like to be a human? Haha.

BAT: No, but — I mean, it's not like I’ve ever felt your internal experience. How should I [...]

The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration.

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First published:
December 1st, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/P6BCRfusJefJw6Bei/interview-what-it-s-like-to-be-a-bat

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.