What Is it Like to Be a Bat? perceptional experiences. While it is possible to imagine what it would be like to fly, navigate by sonar, hang upside down and eat insects like a bat, that is not the same as a bat's perspective. Nagel claims that even if humans were able to metamorphose gradually into bats, their brains would not have been wired as a bat's from birth; therefore, they would only be able to experience the life and behaviors of a bat, rather than the mindset. Such is the difference between subjective and objective points of view. According to Nagel, "our own mental activity is the
What Is a Nation? the stage for nationalism. Renan also asserts that neither language nor religion are basis for solidarity because language “invites people to unite, but does not force them to do so” and "religion has become an individual matter" For example, the United States and England both speak English but do not constitute a single, united nation and countries no longer operate on the notion of religions operating against each other, forcing people to choose between one or the other. Renan noted that a unique element of the European nation-forming experience was the mixture of races, origins and religions, where conquering people