An Immense World (Ed Yong)

Why it’s in the re-read hall of fame

• Forces you to abandon the idea that your senses are “normal.”
• Makes biodiversity feel like a stack of parallel realities.

Notes (draft)

• Every species lives in its own umwelt (perceptual world).
• Senses aren’t just “inputs”; they shape behavior and evolution.
• Technology lets us peek into other umwelten, but always imperfectly.

Questions I’m still thinking about

• Which human decisions would change if we internalized non-human perspectives?
• How does this change the way we think about conservation and animal welfare?