Sentient assembles a menagerie of zoological creatures - from land, air, sea and all four corners of the globe - to understand what it means to be human. Through their eyes, ears, skins, tongues and noses, the furred, finned and feathered reveal how we sense and make sense of the world, as well as the untold scientific revolution stirring in the field of human perception.
The harlequin mantis shrimp can throw a punch that can fracture aquarium walls but, more importantly, it has the ability to see a vast range of colours. The ears of the great grey owl have such unparalleled range and sensitivity that they can hear twenty decibels lower than the human ear. The star-nosed mole barely fills a human hand, seldom ventures above ground and poses little threat unless you are an earthworm, but its miraculous nose allows it to catch those worms at astonishing speed - as little as one hundred and twenty milliseconds. Here, too, we meet the four-eyed spookfish and its dark vision; the vampire bat and its remarkable powers of touch; the bloodhound and its hundreds of millions of scent receptors, as well as the bar-tailed godwit, the common octopus, giant peacocks, cheetahs and golden orb-weaving spiders. Each of these extraordinary creatures illustrates the sensory powers that lie dormant within us.
In this captivating book, Jackie Higgins explores this evolutionary heritage and, in doing so, enables us to subconsciously engage with the world in ways we never knew possible.
0 有用 Voyager 2024-06-05 14:37:59 美国
动物们的感知力让人类打开了了解宇宙的大门~印象很深的是作者对世界是声与光存在性的思考:如果一片树叶落在地上没有被听到,它发出了声音吗?如果一束光照在了大地上但是没被发现,它有颜色吗?一切感知都是大脑与神经对外界能量场的解码,你听到的声音、看到的颜色,会因为个体解码器的差异而不同。裙子是蓝黑还是白金没有普世的正确答案,我看到的跟你看到的是不同的世界。
0 有用 optman 2023-03-03 13:51:46 广西
亚里士多德说“人有五感”,但是你知道人类其实也可以感受磁场么,只是意识不到而已。平衡感,以及体感也是人类非常重要的感觉。没有平衡感,就无法做到直立行走。没有体感,闭着眼睛用手摸鼻子就不可能做到。我们都知道色盲,但有少数人能够看到比常人更多的颜色。在常人看来平淡无奇的画面,在他们的眼中可能是五彩缤纷。风和日丽对常人来是好日子,而下雨天对盲人才是好日子,后者通过听来看世界。即聋又盲的人,甚至可以通过触... 亚里士多德说“人有五感”,但是你知道人类其实也可以感受磁场么,只是意识不到而已。平衡感,以及体感也是人类非常重要的感觉。没有平衡感,就无法做到直立行走。没有体感,闭着眼睛用手摸鼻子就不可能做到。我们都知道色盲,但有少数人能够看到比常人更多的颜色。在常人看来平淡无奇的画面,在他们的眼中可能是五彩缤纷。风和日丽对常人来是好日子,而下雨天对盲人才是好日子,后者通过听来看世界。即聋又盲的人,甚至可以通过触摸来学会说话。嗅觉直达大脑,反应异常迅速,我们感受到的食物味道更多的通过鼻子。感冒无食欲,就是鼻子塞了。舌尖用于探索食物风味,舌根则决定是否要吞咽(是否有毒)。感官世界决定了我们对自然界的认识程度。 (展开)