This Blog considers assisted suicide/euthanasia, bioethics, human cloning, biotechnology, radical environmentalism, and the dangers of animal rights/liberation. My views expressed here, as in my books and other writings, reflect my understanding that the philosophy of human exceptionalism is the bedrock of universal human rights. Or, to put it another way: human life matters. (The opinions expressed here are my own and not necessarily those of any organization with which I am affiliated.)
This is interesting: The mask of Charlie Chaplain has a nose that sticks out on the outside. The same nose is concave on the inside. But because our brains know that noses stick out, not in, it refuses to "see" the nose correctly. The power of the human mind to overrule the impulses of the senses that come into the human brain. Exceptional.
Labels: The Power of the Mind.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 11:41 AM
9 Comments
I am a Senior Fellow in Human Rights and Bioethics at the Discovery Institute and the author of 12 books, including A Rat Is A Pig Is A Dog Is A Boy, which is relevant to the issues considered by this blog.
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9 Comments:
Wesley, I think it is inaccurate to claim that humans are exceptional among animals because their brains construct experience according to learned categories.
I don't get it. When it comes around to the back, it looks to me like the hollow inside of a mask, with the nose sticking away from me. I think this is what they mean by a "nose sticking in." The shadows are there for a hollow nose seen from the inside and everything. Does this mean my brain isn't doing what the narrator says it's going to do? Could this have anything to do with the fact that I don't have depth perception? It just doesn't seem to be working the way he says it does when I watch it.
Lincoln: Not sure about that. Have there been studies about animals seeing things that were not really there, or whether they fall for optical illusions?
Lydia: I see a nose sticking out even though I know it is concave. Perhaps you have a superior mind that can instruct your brain to see what is actually there according to the physical
More probably inferior eyes rather than superior mind. I'll have to ask my husband and kids what they see. When it is first coming around, it looks definitely concave. When it has turned all the way around to the back and the back side is facing me full-face, the image looks flat and the nose just looks fuzzy around the edges--perfectly ambiguous as to whether sticking out or in. I suspect that without depth perception, I rely almost entirely on things like shadows and size to decide whether things are coming towards me or away, and when the shadows aren't indicative, my brain registers a flat image.
Lydia,
I wouldn't be surprised if there are other optical illusions that don't "work" for you. From what I can recall of my sensory psychology course, visual processing is really complex.
I would guess that if you don't have depth perception, your brain has different ways of organizing and making sense of visual information - making you less susceptible to some kinds of optical illusions.
I'm sure you're right, Stephen. OTOH, depth perception sure would come in handy for driving at night or catching a ball. :-)
I can't not see it stick out! That is REALLY wild, and I'll have to be sure to show the kiddies. ;)
Hooray for phenomenology!
Great... I hope some attorney doesn't take this into court to try to convince a jury that we see only what we are conditioned to see but not what we really saw. O brother.
I looked as hard as I could and could not see the concave aspect at all. My grandmother used to always say "believe nothing you hear or read and only half of what you see." Some much for the half of what you see part now.
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