What Is it like to be a bat?

I am not a philosopher. I bleed quarks, breath black holes, and generally have a hard time with "emptiness". So with those credentials, I managed to find this video (through a serendipitous route) about a famous philosophical paper entitled "What is like to be a bat?". I suspect I wouldn't get far in the paper, but this presentation is awesome.

I mentioned the above because I seem to be going down a "consciousness" rabbit hole.

It started with Sam Harris who, as you may recall, is my top dharma influencer these days. In his app (Waking Up) there is a section on "conversations" and he had several posted with the comedian Ricky Gervais. Ricky, it turns out, is really, really smart. And, it turns out, they have a separate podcast together called "Absolutely Mental" where they have a lot of conversations about the mind, consciousness, ethics, etc. Really really good and highly recommended.

Orthogonal to this, Ricky Gervais has a brilliant show on Netflix called "After Life". It follows a guy who lost his wife to breast cancer, and how he is dealing with that. Poignant (melancholy?) and funny. Very highly recommended too.

Back to consciousness, however, Sam's wife Annaka wrote a book called "Conscious", where she explores all things consciousness in a very accessible way. And that is where I heard of this bat paper.

Tom, since you're into the consciousness hole right now I suggest you read this book, too:

Ten Zen Questions 

The author, Susan Blackmore, also has a website/blog about similar things.

Have you ever read anything by Daniel Dennett ?

Thanks Chris and Philip...you have given me some reading for the next little while.

Here is Conscious , by Annaka Harris. Recommended.