Reflecting and reminiscing on the past has been a common pastime among humans from

the beginning of time. I myself have countlessly let my subconscious run free as I reveled in

sweet memories; replaying moments in my mind while creating new ones. Humans, however, are

not the only species to perform this function. Animals are also capable of transporting

themselves mentally from one place to another; recalling old events while strategizing and

planning for possible future scenarios. Scientists call this experience mental time travel.

Three research professors: Markus Werning, Sen Cheng, and Thomas Suddendorf, set out

to tackle the long-standing debate whether or not animals can mentally travel back to the past or

to the future. Although I do not agree with all their claims and findings, the method in which

they conduct their research is very unique. Before the team begins any testing, they first define

what consists of mental time travel. The team suggests that mental time travel is made up of two

essential components. And without one or the other, the phrase ‘mental time travel’ cannot be

applied. Component number one is, “memory traces from episodic memory” (Bochum, “Mental

Time Travel”). Episodic memory is the recollection of one’s own past experience, or as many

others define it, an autobiographical event. It is often set in the context of time, places, or

associated with emotions. Episodic memory can also answer the questions who, what, when,

where, and why in any given scenario.

Professor Sen Cheng explains how specific the details of the recollection must be to be

considered episodic memory, that each “trace must represent a particular experience” (Bochum).

As evident in his explicitivity, Prof. Cheng deems the exact mirroring of the human cognitive

process as essential criteria for fitting into component one; not allowing any other possible

method of recollection that the animal might possess. Component two is the act of creating

mental scenarios. The team describes this as the ability to recall vivid memories from the past

and predict possible situations that are not isolated, but work in conjunction with the past to

produce an accurate future. The analogy given is of someone retracing their steps in order to find

something lost. In this way, they are connecting the past with other situations and information to

create a scene in their mind. As they play back their previous movements, they try to mentally

pin point where, when, and how things went wrong. According to the scientists, This extreme

reflection is essential to mental time traveling. They concede that although animals may store

memory, their ability to “reflect on narratives of their lives… and compare alternative scenarios

of a remote future” determines their power to mentally time travel (Bochum).

After defining their terms, the team of professors looked at published experimental

studies to further explore the phenomenon. They took recordings of animals’ reactions and how

they performed when tested. They compared the results with their model and definition of mental

time travel. After proper deliberation, they concluded that although some animals appeared to

have passed the episodic memory evaluation, they could not show proof of cultivating or

comparing future scenarios like humans do; meaning, in their standards, animals are not capable

of mental time travel.

Despite the results of the team, I continue to hold my position that animals indeed can

mentally time travel. My only concession is that their thought construction is so different from

ours’ it may be preceded differently. Prof. Thomas Suddendorf team’s lack of evidence to prove

animal’s possession of cognitive formulation of possible situations gives them no grounds to

entirely squash the notion of animal mental time travel. While animals may not mirror the mental

patterns of humans, it doesn’t mean their actions are done strictly out of instinct; without any

method of assessment taking place. Instead of ruling out mental time travel, the team should

have evaluated the results found, in order to possibly discover a new way of thinking. Maybe it’s

not animals’ lack of ability, but our lack of capacity to understand the extraordinary thought

patterns that creatures possess. It could be, that although animals do not compare and contrast

topics in their head, they have something better conjuring up in their brains. Animals are so

uniquely made, we can’t even begin to understand what goes on in their minds.

Even though understanding the ‘how’ for many of their miraculous gifts can be difficult,

we should never deny their talents or devalue the abilities of animals. For they function in

mysterious and unexplainable ways. Among the puzzling animals studied across the world, bats are a case humans have been trying to crack for over one hundred years. The 14th century Italian

renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci, poured a year of his life into the study of bats’ wings.

He dedicated his time to uncovering the secret of how their seemingly erratic wings are able to

produce such smooth flight. He even went as far as designing a model of a bat to simulate its

flight. However, after several attempts he remained unsuccessful. For many years, the mystery

remained unsolved. Until, another scientist, Spallanzani took up the challenge. But, unlike

Leonardo, Spallanzani concentrated less on the flight and more on what seemed like their ‘night

vision’. When testing a bat’s ability to fly with the lights out, he discovered that bats could fly

successfully in the dark. This revelation kick started his experiment leading to further inquiries

on what aided bats’ aviation. Spallanzani set out to pinpoint what sense allowed bats to fly

without light. After coating the bats’ wings, eyes, body, and ears, the black creature was still able

to fly effortlessly; not crashing into a single object. It wasn’t until the bat’s ears were covered

with dense starch, that its flying was miserably fettered. It appeared to Spallanzani and his

colleague that bats were flying using their ears. This unfathomable result left both scientists

incredulous. Ashamed of their own findings, they refused to publish the results. Only later it was

discovered that it is not their ears that allow safe air travel, but their voices. Bats create an

acoustic vision that allows them to identify the proximity of objects during flight; each bat

bearing their own voice signature. This experimental journey is an example of how much we

don’t know about animals. As soon as we believe we have solved the puzzle, a new piece is

found.

I have found myself both puzzled and intrigued by the mysteriously familiar behavior of

animals. Through my neighborhood friend, I was able to observe, first hand, this mental time

travel in a cat. My friend Oliver has three cats: Marley, Nico and Rocky Road. They are all cute

and unique in different ways; bearing their own personalities. He used to have five cats but,

Daisy and Charlie were sadly run over by “careless neighborhood drivers” (Lewis). While

showing me both Daisy and Charlie’s burials, Oliver explained how Marley was deeply affected

by Charlie’s sudden death. At night, he would be awakened by soft miserable whimpers only to

discover it was Marley mourning the loss of his brother. I noticed that when Oliver would take

Marley out to the front porch, the cat would stay cautiously close to the door; barricading the

wooden pane; careful not to go past the welcome mat. Marley was utterly terrified of the street.

As if he had remembered the fatal incident of Charlie and Daisy. As if he was using that memory

to protect himself from future mobile predators, this cat was using mental time travel to mourn

his brother, and to protect himself from further trauma. Some may call this natural instinct

behavior done absentmindedly, but I call it intentional cognitive response to past events. The

only thing absent here is the confession that animals have more under their sleeve than we think.

As I increase my interaction with animals, I am discovering their unique and incredible

talents. The creatures around us are perfectly and miraculously crafted. Although their thought

waves might look different than ours’, their ability to live in past memories and create future

scenarios cannot be rejected. Through personal observation and research done on my own, I

have found indisputable evidence that animals not only have the capacity to time travel, but also

possess talents and gifts humans could not dream of understanding. If bats can use their mouths

to fly, who’s to say they can’t engage in reflection? Animal minds are an enigma that both

frustrates and inspires us; leaving humans in awe of the amazing creatures that live among us.

 

 

Work Cited

Corballis, Michael, Suddendorf, Thomas, “The evolution of foresight: What is mental time

travel, and is it unique to humans?” Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 30, no. 3, 2007,

10.1017?S0140525X07001975

Bochum, Ruhr-Universitaet. “Mental Time Travel: An exclusively human capacity?” Science

Daily, Science Daily, 22 December 2015,

https:??www.sciencedaily.com?releases?2015?12?151222082343.htm. Accessed 19

October 2017.

Keim, Brandon. National Geographic Inside Animal Minds: What They Think, Feel, And Know .

National Geographic, 2017.

Lewis, Bryor. Personal Interview. 12 June 2017.

Wall, John. “Secrets and Mysteries of Bats-Nature Documentary” YouTube, 11 July 2014,

https:??www.youtube.com?watch?vΩvCbZHvsX1dk