Echolocation was a topic I found quite intriguing to read about in the book. When you are a person who does not use echolocation, it can be easy to think, "How does one successfully do this?". Echolocation is used by those who are visually impaired. They produce clicking sounds to determine how close they are to surrounding objects.
I had an experience with a person who uses echolocation at my job recently. I am a hostess at a restaurant in Atlantic City. A lady entered the restaurant and right away I could tell she was visually impaired. She was navigating with a 'white cane'. However, she was only holding the cane, not moving it around as some visually impaired people do. As she approached the host stand I could hear her making clicking noises, and to my surprise she stopped about a foot in front of the host stand and started talking. It was amazing to see what we have learned about happen right in front of me.
When we read about this in the book, I was so intrigued. People are more capable than they think. In the book, the bike riders used this to get through the trails. They used echolocation to help them to determine when to turn or if there was a nearby object that could possibly be in the way. The fact that they are able to hear silent objects is just astonishing. I also liked the fact that this could be taught to anyone. We do not have to be visually impaired to learn this technique.
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