Well, what you see is causally entangled both by how the tree is and what the lighting of the tree is. I mean, you’d see something different if it’s night out, so it’s really transmitting information about both.
That said, what you notice yourself seeing isn’t photons—it’s what the visual processing center of your brain thinks is out there. It’s why optical illusions work, it’s why hallucinations happen, and it’s why sleight of hand works.
I don’t think sleight of hand fits in that bunch too well. It hasn’t got that much to do with vision per se, but rather attention. You consciously process much less than you think. Those tiny resources are directed by your attention. If your attention doesn’t fix on the right object, you’re screwed. This effect applies to all sensory modalities, I think.
Here’s a pickpocket giving a TED talk on attention.
Well, what you see is causally entangled both by how the tree is and what the lighting of the tree is. I mean, you’d see something different if it’s night out, so it’s really transmitting information about both.
That said, what you notice yourself seeing isn’t photons—it’s what the visual processing center of your brain thinks is out there. It’s why optical illusions work, it’s why hallucinations happen, and it’s why sleight of hand works.
Can you explain sleight of hand in more detail? What is happening? And why does it work?
I don’t think sleight of hand fits in that bunch too well. It hasn’t got that much to do with vision per se, but rather attention. You consciously process much less than you think. Those tiny resources are directed by your attention. If your attention doesn’t fix on the right object, you’re screwed. This effect applies to all sensory modalities, I think.
Here’s a pickpocket giving a TED talk on attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXGr76CfoCs
I can’t, but here’s a good example