http://www.all-about-psychology.com/optical-illusions.html
This video is a little bit long..but it's definitely worth watching. Scroll down a little bit and it is the first video on the page by Al seckel. He is a scientist who does extensive research on visual illusions and how different people perceive them and so forth. He makes a point of showing how things that look the same can become very different by a simple change. Our brains really don't need a lot of information to make something different from another. Another very interesting bit- He shows an image of a cross with two balls crossing over one another. He does it the first time with no noise, and the second time with a little sound effect. Now, the balls seem to be bouncing off one another, however they are in fact doing the same thing as they were the first time. Just by hearing this little noise our brain sees it as being different and our visual perception changes. Definitely make sure you try to watch the whole thing, there are definitely some funny parts to it as well. Especially the little girl drawing the picture of her mommy "pole dancing" and the true meanings behind all of these examples.
8 comments:
The video reminded me of one of my favorite illusions, The Spinning Dancer. Here's a brief article on it. I find it strange how stubborn my brain seems to be. Its like I recognize its not actually spinning, but there is a disconnect between what I know and what I can see. It always takes me awhile to get the image to change directions, and then once it does, I can rarely get it to go back.
http://www.all-about-psychology.com/optical-illusions.html
I found video is quite interesting on two levels. The first is that it really made me think about what a tough job we as artist have in creating a depicted reality that will be viable to all people. It is amazing that one simple line, color, shape, or view can completely change the whole feeling of the piece. Like the horse, a simple change can completely alter a piece. It makes me think back to when I was first learning perspective, and my teacher made us draw a box. He then showed us that by simply changing the lines we could make it look like one was viewing it from the top or from the bottom.
Also, I felt this video was good at melding the idea of Visual Intelligence and Perception. It was interesting to hear him talk about how we create the world around us, but do so according to our beliefs. The thought that our Visual Intelligence could change as our beliefs do is slightly mind boggling.
I found this video to be very interesting, especially when he makes a statement that we perceive our world depending on our own belief systems, and that changes in those beliefs can alter the way we look at the world. I have a little bit of a hard time bridging belief systems to optical illusions, however, because I think those operate on a much more basic level that no one can escape. Probably most of the people sitting in that auditorium have different beliefs in religion, politics, etc., but I doubt that anyone could see the floor tiles as being the same shade of grey in the one illusion—or any of them for that matter. However, I will say that I found it fascinating to see how little information the brain needs to put a scenario together. I was especially surprised by the ball rolling across the checkered floor, and how only a change in the shadow changes our perception from a rolling ball to a bouncing ball. At first it seems like a bad thing that our brains can be fooled, but if we couldn’t do this, I don’t think we could create an accurate picture of the world around us.
The most interesting aspect of the video to me was the way that two people with different belief systems will look at the same thing and it will further reaffirm what they believe-- like confirmation bias, though it can be the EXACT same thing. Obviously this comes up all the time in the world, and the way the same things can further drive two people apart is fascinating.
Also I am just very interested in the fact that the brain will do anything to make a picture make sense, that we're designed to try and figure things out in the way that makes the most sense.
-Megan Fajardo
That was really fascinating!! Definitely worth 20 minutes of my lunch. I've seen some of those optical illusions before, but they were still interesting nonetheless. But what really struck me was the contextual aspect of everyday images and how that changes based on your personal beliefs. I've seen many examples of how a single image can be interpreted in so many ways by different people. Also, how an image is cropped, or presented can also change the view and meaning. Which is often used in propaganda, and advertising. It makes you think how advertisers choose images to appeal to a certain set of beliefs in a target audience.
-Taylor
Really cool video. I've never seen some of these illusions before and they were very tricky. It is really insane to find out how completely out of control your own brain is in interpretation, but as we can see, it all for the most part has its positives along with it's negatives.
The part I found more interesting was the meaning segment. The idea that we try our best to argue why our beliefs are true. This is a very obvious statement, but it shows that overall we should be more aware of our beliefs as just things that we have assumed over the years to be true over some kind of trial and error and that they still may be false. That I think is the important message to get from this.
This was a very interesting video! I was especially intrigued by the end segment where he talked about how depending on your set of beliefs and ideas, people will take from the same event and use it to reinforce their own beliefs. It's really interesting to me that once your brain establishes a core belief, every other bit of information you receive from that point on will be mapped in a way that supports your own belief. This just goes to show why it's so hard to discuss things like religion and politics with people.
I also found it very interesting when he talked briefly about cults, and how when your mind suffers from a "system failure" as he calls it, and your whole framework is shattered; it's so easy for you to become brainwashed. It's a pretty scary thought.
While I never really considered the idea that our belief systems affects the way we perceive everything, including optical illusions, I don’t find it very hard to agree with. We are only really capable of perceiving things in our own individual way, and we can’t really control or obliterate our biases as easily as we can reaffirm them. People are always looking to turn any situation into something that fits into what they want. Whether we are aware or unaware, we are always trying to explain the inexplicable, define the undefined, and somehow warp everything so that it reflects what we feel or think.
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