Do you ever think that sometimes as humans we tend to be too often irrational? Is it just you or is there some mystery that needs to be unfolded to understand how the human brain has been designed?“Whilst part of what we perceive comes through our senses from the object before us, another part (and it may be the larger part) always comes out of our own mind”- William James
“Man is a credulous animal and must believe something. In the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.”- Bertrand Russell
Are you aware that our brains natural programming is to take on short cuts? Our entire world view fits our automated perceptions and whilst these work quite efficiently, there are many times , most of which we are completely unaware of, when it is possible to misperceive reality and we are bound to think and act irrationally.
Why can this happen my dear brilliant friends?
- Time or the lack of it, its just that sometimes we don't really have enough time to think things through
- Level of complexity, since we can only retain a small number of ideas in our at any one time in our brain, so we cut through the chase and skip some of the data, that may however be pertinent and relevant in arriving at the right conclusion and appropriate action
- Pleasure in reality distortion; whilst few will admit there are "real" people who often distort their thoughts and ideas about reality to make themselves more comfortable and happy. We could give a thousand and one reasons why a person would do this but it will not change a damn thing, it is still being done.
Mainly these three (3) are only a few examples of reasons why human interaction and relationships are complicated, muddled and frustrating.
And just for the heck of it and because I like to, why don't you try a few tests for the fun part, and have some visual exercises to check out whether you have constraints in developing a more realistic conception and perception; and if you do, then you are able to flex and shift your perception? The ability to shift helps us to better understand ourselves and others, in the process.
I will post a series of Figures and Specific Questions below it. Feel free to write on my Comment Box and I will reply to the accuracy of your answer. After all, I have the answer Guide. Have fun!
FIGURE 1:
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| Do you see the young lady's mother? |
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| Do you see something in this picture? If you do see something, try to see "nothing. |
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| Can you see the Old Man? Young Man? Can you see them both? |
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| Do you see anything? What animals do you see? |
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| What do you see? What else? |
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| Can you see the face among the beans? |
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| Do you see how they were when they were younger? |
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| How many animals? What are they? |
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| Do you see animals? What are they doing? |
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| How many faces do you see? |
Psycho, while it's true that optical illusions (and other illusions) represent the brain trying to take shortcuts, what I've found is that people, even those as dumb as me, can be taught to see things differently.
ReplyDeleteNow, in the first and third pictures, we find the youthful person looking away, while it is the old woman and man that are closer.
In the second one there is a dalmation dog sniffing.The fourth one is both a seal and a jackass, while the eighth shows a rabbit and a duck. The fifth picture is a portrait (Igor Stravinsky) that also spell out 'liar'. In the sixth one I can make out a face (of sorts) within the beans, slightly to the left and lower.
figure seven is a famous one of the mexican serenader and his serenadee, in younger and older years. Figure nine is allegorical, with the couple entangled in lovemaking, while forming a snake, with its poisonous jaws. And lastly, I can make out 14 faces among the conglomeration of rocks, bushes, rivers and riders.
How'd I do?
hi pbb,i have seen a few of these before but the one that gave me the most difficulty was the lovers and dolphins...its was really difficult, even after looking for clues like
ReplyDeletethe name of the picture dolphns.jpg
thats a hot pose, so i stand guilty but after
along time I finally did see all those fish still swimming around the lovers :)
Drachma: you did absolutely well my friend. They are Dolphins playing, if the couple did not block your perception. However, we need to talk a bit about the faces you saw on the last illusion. 14 you said? Just sayin'. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Collin: will check that out.
Rivercat: the thing about Illusions, once you can see it, you can not Un-SEE it anymore. No matter how hard you try, your brain has been programmed to capture and record it. Unless of course, they subject you to all of those Mind medicines and creepy subliminal used for brainwashing. Otherwise, it's just stuck there. Kids only see dolphins however. :D
This post reminded me of the botox and emotions issue I read about. That the physical can impact the mental, and thus (using your terms) creates the illusion that limits consciousness.
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell:
Botox renders the muscles of the face immobile.
Facial Feedback Theory: the degree to which we can physically express an emotion impacts the degree to which we can feel that emotion.
Thus botox which stops emotional displays limits emotions.
Think of the physical expressions of joy vs hatred. One is beaming smiles and the other can be done with inward seething and placid expression.
Botox limits our ability to feel happiness and joy while not curtailing our ability with to access anger and hatred.
The artificial mask injected into people's faces kills empathy and couple that with the empathy destruction that email communication creates we arrive in a scary place.
The group that most receives botox is the upper class and elite. The group from which charity depends.
Sometimes the physical can create an illusion that is quite visceral.
I've seen most of these before. I also read somewhere about the dolphin picture, that if you were to show that to a child, all they would see is dolphins because they do not know the concept of adultlike contact, we'll say.
ReplyDeleteThat's just something I read. Who knows if it's true. Do we really believe everything we read??
Great post.
this is cool i like illusions like this it makes you concentrate and really look at the pictures
ReplyDeleteI just had fun with my son on this page thanks:)
ReplyDelete