Being Ignorant Is Not So Much A Shame, As Being Unwilling To Learn

Benjamin Franklin is a great example of the difference it makes when you educate yourself about what is happening around you. He initially owned slaves (it hurts to write it), but as he grew older, he became opposed to the institution (or crime). He went so far as to write pamphlets arguing for its abolition and became president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. It would have been great if he had opposed slavery from the start, but nobody is perfect, including all of us. 

But at least he made it right. Would you be willing to do the same?

I could give you hundreds of examples of the things you are unknowingly doing wrong that are damaging others (including yourself), but I would rather explain how it is that if you take a little time to learn why other beings exist, you would be amazed at what you would find. Most importantly, the difference it would make if you understood why everything has a transcendent purpose. A mission that goes far beyond your basic knowledge. Get ready to be amazed.

Is no secret that Valencia has a special history with bats, and while some of it might be based on medieval legend passed on through generations, they are still an intrinsic part of our city and the rest of the world. According to the legend, it was a bat that alerted King Jaume I of a surprise attack, helping him to win the battle. Ever since, it has become a symbol of good luck and protection for the city, but the reasons why it is included in its flag are also mixed theories. Historically, the bat represents an evolution of the vibria—or winged dragon—that King Pere el Cerimoniós (Peter IV of Aragon) added to his helmet in the 14th century. This vibria was a symbol of strength and power which, over the years and through successive heraldic depictions, became increasingly conflated and simplified until it evolved into the form of the modern-day bat: the rat penat. I guess it was easier to draw a bat than a dragon!

Either way, it is a biodiversity rockstar. They disperse seeds, pollinate plants, and they control the mosquito population! Only three types of bats in the entire world drink blood (livestock and birds), but luckily for you, they are in Central or South America, not in Europe. The rest of them love nectar, pollen, fish, small animals such as little vertebrates (frogs, lizards, birds, and small rodents), and their sweet treat, intrinsic to their diet, are fruits. 

I was so blessed to research how wonderful they are after I found one in my home’s bedroom back in Guatemala. The apartment buildings were next to a huge forest, and somehow it fit through the window and landed facing the floor. Initially, I was fearful after approaching it and realising it was a bat, but suddenly a sadness came over me when I realised the light in the bedroom was completely suppressing its eyesight. It melted my heart; it was just lying there, totally helpless. We put it in a box, went downstairs, walked close to the forest and released it. Some people think they are blind, but they have functional, highly sensitive eyes adapted for low-light conditions. While they use echolocation to navigate in total darkness, many bats rely on their vision for long-distance navigation and hunting, often seeing better than humans in the dark due to a high density of rod cells. 

But it is the echolocation part that has caught my attention, especially after learning that some visually impaired humans use it too. A research team led by biologist Laura Stidsholt, associate professor at the Department of Biology at Aarhus University, describes how they equipped wild noctule bats with miniature sensors and showed that the animals integrate sight and hearing while hunting. The result: they capture insects significantly faster in light than in darkness. “It’s just like us: if we want to cross a road, we solve the task better by using both sight and hearing. If we cannot hear, we may double-check and make sure before crossing –, but if we can also hear, we can better estimate whether we can make it across or not,” explained Laura Stidsholt. 

Isn’t it amazing? 

In 2011, National Geographic shared the story of Both Kish, who learned to use sonar. By making clicks with his tongue and listening to the rebounding echoes, he can “see” the world in sound, in the same way that dolphins and bats can. According to them, the echoes are loaded with information, not just about the position of objects, but about their distance, size, shape and texture. By working with people like Kish, scientists have found the scope and limits of their abilities. But until then, no one had looked at how their brains deal with their super-sense. Is like a superpower that most of us have not developed because we rely on the rest of our senses.

Many studies have shown that the brains of blind people reorganise to adapt to their condition, and the areas used for vision take on new roles. This is probably related to neuroplasticity, which is the brain's lifelong ability to reorganise its structure, functions, and neural connections in response to learning, experience, or injury. I learned about it when reading about how gender is determined after coming in contact with society.

Like the rest of animals, they are extremely sensitive to pesticides, and their environments are being ruined primarily by human activity, ranging from direct habitat destruction to the spread of diseases. The most significant threats include the loss of roosting sites, the impact of fatal diseases, and collisions with renewable energy infrastructure. Heavy use of pesticides reduces the insect population, which is the primary food source for many bat species. Bats ingest toxins by consuming insects contaminated with pesticides, which can lead to mass mortality events, and fear and negative myths lead to the intentional destruction of roosts in homes, bridges, and caves. WHICH IS BASED ON PURE STUPIDITY. I am sorry to be so blunt, but it makes me mad to find that they are the victim of such ignorance!

Do you really want to see what they are truly like? Go to YouTube and watch videos of bats eating fruit! You will see how gentle and sweet they are.

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Valencia and bats! All you still have to learn.