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Every living species perceives the world in its own way, and humans are no exception. Our senses open only a narrow window into reality. We hear sound only within a limited range of frequencies, see only the visible spectrum of light, and feel touch only through direct contact. Everything beyond these ranges remains invisible to us—until we invent tools to peer behind the curtain. Even now, we are surrounded by signals and fields we do not notice: ultrasound, ultraviolet glow, Earth’s magnetic fields. For us, they do not exist directly, though instruments reveal a world teeming with invisible colors.

Now imagine a sentient being whose sensory experience of the world is completely different. Its senses may directly perceive aspects of the universe inaccessible to humans—magnetic fields, subtle gravitational vibrations, or ranges of light we can only guess at. What for us is mere background noise might be their primary information channel. Their “worldview” is built on different data: they might see the electromagnetic architecture of space or hear the radioactive decay of atoms as music. Their reality is another layer of the universe, superimposed upon ours yet invisible to us without mediation.

Our perception is limited not only by our senses but also by our culture and experience. We tend to think our sensations give us an objective picture of the world, yet it is only a human version of reality. There’s an old thought: if we had different senses, we would live in a different world. The limits of human perception are also the limits of our imagination. Realizing this is the first step toward understanding how different another mind’s view of the universe might be.