![It seems of note that we are generally incapable, in recollection or in recreation, to capture the entirety of what we perceive. What is as notable and is often demonstrated in amusing optical illusions is that our brains seem determined, almost like gently doting parents, to spare us from recognizing what is absent: diligently, the mind fills in blind spots and assigns depth and texture and calculates values not present, and this sort of automatic assistance accompanies everything from perception to cognition to emotion.
Above is one of my favorite optical phenomena; the result is stunning and the gap it exposes almost embarrassing, particularly if you like to take photographs: called “The Eclipse of Mars,” it demonstrates that monitors, no matter their caliber, simply do not display any color like pure cyan. This iteration comes from Skytopia:
“Stare at the white dot in the centre of the red circle for at least two minutes; stay focused on the white dot.
You’ll start to see a thin rim of light around the edge. Don’t stop staring at the dot! Wait another minute, keeping your head perfectly still.
After two minutes, very slowly move your head backwards, making sure to keep your eyes focused on the dot. The circle’s rim will glow brilliantly with true cyan! [Rephrased a bit]”
The fact that there exists this color that your monitor cannot display (note the chart of ordinary cyan-to-blue below) is a mystery: have you ever looked at a photograph online and thought, “No, that’s missing a key color?” Don’t the landscapes and skies all seem totally complete, marvelous, rich, full? And yet they cannot have this crucial color, and your mind simply fills in what your medium lacks!
This seems to me more than amusing. One’s mind is determined to conceal gaps in perception, thought, and emotion with whatever is at hand and to do so without, as it were, alerting you. Doesn’t this seem incredible, almost like a metaphor for pure ignorance and our natural aversion to it, proof that we cannot be relied upon to meaningfully see through, so to speak, our technologies and media?](http://5.media.tumblr.com/2KfNZVJctp1k0065Aoe6GDhGo1_400.png)
It seems of note that we are generally incapable, in recollection or in recreation, to capture the entirety of what we perceive. What is as notable and is often demonstrated in amusing optical illusions is that our brains seem determined, almost like gently doting parents, to spare us from recognizing what is absent: diligently, the mind fills in blind spots and assigns depth and texture and calculates values not present, and this sort of automatic assistance accompanies everything from perception to cognition to emotion.
Above is one of my favorite optical phenomena; the result is stunning and the gap it exposes almost embarrassing, particularly if you like to take photographs: called “The Eclipse of Mars,” it demonstrates that monitors, no matter their caliber, simply do not display any color like pure cyan. This iteration comes from Skytopia:
- “Stare at the white dot in the centre of the red circle for at least two minutes; stay focused on the white dot.
- You’ll start to see a thin rim of light around the edge. Don’t stop staring at the dot! Wait another minute, keeping your head perfectly still.
- After two minutes, very slowly move your head backwards, making sure to keep your eyes focused on the dot. The circle’s rim will glow brilliantly with true cyan! [Rephrased a bit]”
The fact that there exists this color that your monitor cannot display (note the chart of ordinary cyan-to-blue below) is a mystery: have you ever looked at a photograph online and thought, “No, that’s missing a key color?” Don’t the landscapes and skies all seem totally complete, marvelous, rich, full? And yet they cannot have this crucial color, and your mind simply fills in what your medium lacks!
This seems to me more than amusing. One’s mind is determined to conceal gaps in perception, thought, and emotion with whatever is at hand and to do so without, as it were, alerting you. Doesn’t this seem incredible, almost like a metaphor for pure ignorance and our natural aversion to it, proof that we cannot be relied upon to meaningfully see through, so to speak, our technologies and media?
