We assume that we look at the world & see it as it is. Well…yes & no. Actually what we see is based on our selective attention. Our eyes transmit information to our brain at remarkable speeds but what we’re looking at is not what we think. Our brain actually cannot “see” 3D images, rather what you see is a factory line produced reflection. First it sees dots, then lines, then angles, then movement, then color. There are specific parts of the brain that process this information, & damage to one of those areas would create problems in the image projected – think color blindness.
Your brain scans what it’s looking at & constructs an image, that it retains in kind of a temporary holding area – this is what you see. But what you’re seeing is actually a memorized image. At the same time, your eyes are moving constantly & updating the visual field with new information. But unless your attention is drawn to it, you can be looking at it & not seeing it. Let me give you an example.
When you blink, it’s the equivalent of a screen wipe. Now if I change what’s in the visual field & simulate a blink (flashing the image on & off) I could change something in the image & most likely you wouldn’t see what the change was. It’s called change blindness. It means that just because something is visually in front of us, doesn’t mean we saw it.
Have a look at the image below & see if you can see the difference.
Now sure, you say, stop flashing & I’ll get it.
But take a look at this image. It’s the same image, with one modification. Takes time to see it, right? But it’s right there in front of us. Should be obvious, no? Well no…but I’ll come back to that.
Let’s look at another trick your mind plays. We’ve talking about how the brain builds shortcuts. If we had to re-remember everything everyday we would be absolutely useless beings. So the brain has built a bunch of assumptions based on your prior experience. What it offers you as an answer is often the most “useful” answer…whether the answer is accurate or not.
Look at the drawing below…what do you see? A cube? A cube is a 3 dimensional object and you are looking at a 2 dimensional drawing. You perceive a cube – because your brain assumes that’s what’s useful for you to see. But that’s not actually what you are looking at.
One of the ways your brain determines usefulness of what you’re seeing is through the context. Meaning that the stimulus may be the exact same, but given a different context you will perceive and understand it differently.
Take a look at the next two images. You’ve likely seen these numerous times, so of course you know that the 2 yellow dots are the exact same size. But try telling your brain that. The last image, those three figures are the same size. I know because I’ve measured them.
Even if you tell your brain the info it needs, it’s still near impossible for you to believe. Because that’s not been your experience. The context modifies the stimulus, even if the stimulus is the same.
We’ve seen that we can’t always trust what we think we saw, & we know that our perception & understanding of visual information can be changed based on context. Let’s add one more piece: attention. As we saw in the first post we only saw the change in visual data once our attention is drawn to it. There is a specific mechanism in our brain that handles attention.
Here is the most important point of today: things only exist to us if they get our attention, & our attention is a selective process of choice. Where we point our attention is based either:
-in coming to contact with something that negates our expectations: loud noises, bright images etc.
-Or something we consider particularly salient: if you’re starving & I show you a picture of a busy street your eyes may be drawn immediately to a restaurant etc.
-Or finally, your attention could go where it’s been pointed.
Look at the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDkpL6oDnyg
If you did the exercise then you know that even salient things, out of the ordinary can happen & you STILL won’t have your attention drawn to them because you’re so focused on one specific thing. The actual truth of the situation doesn’t matter, your truth…is what you saw. Or think you saw.
Our experience of the world is a compilation of moments where our attention is pointed.
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