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Link Banana

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Seeing the Future #

June 10th, 2008 | In Worth Knowing 

This fact seems to be the key to “optical illusions” which seem to be moving when they are not:

In an experiment originated by Dr. Nijhawan, people watch an object pass a flashbulb. The timing is exact: the bulb flashes precisely as the object passes. But people perceive that the object has moved past the bulb before it flashes. Scientists argue that the brain has evolved to see a split second into the future when it perceives motion. Because it takes the brain at least a tenth of a second to model visual information, it is working with old information. By modeling the future during movement, it is “seeing” the present.

PS: This is the 1000th post on this blog. Just thought you should know.

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Tags: ny times, perception, psychology, science

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