How Do We See?

Our vision is completely dependant on light. Light rays reflect of objects and these enter our eyes. Our eyes are basically windows for imformation to be passed through them.
The eye focuses this image and transmits it in tiny electrical impulses through optic nerves to the brain. The brain deciphers these messages and we “see” the object.

sense of touch

Sense of touch
Our sense of touch is the ability to feel by the nervous system (receptors) sending messages to your brain and thus reacting accordingly. We use this sense to detect pain, pressure, temperature etc. For example, if pain was inflicted upon you, your muscles would flinch involuntarily to prevent more pain and injury.

Nerves are located everywhere around your body; it is simply that some places have more nerves than other places and therefore being more sensitive. Unlike the other senses, nerves are everywhere and not specific to site (i.e. sight, eyes)

Fingertips would be a good example of concentrated receptors nerves, making it one of the most sensitive body parts in your body. Thus, even without sight, people are able to read through ‘braille’ by recognizing different ‘surfaces’ and associate them with letters in the alphabet.

the braille alphabet

Our Sense of Sight

As I was told not to go into much scientific depth about our senses I will make it short. Basically our ability to see happens as light passes through our eye and is inverted through our lens. The light sensitive cells inside our eyes then picks up the image and transfers it to our brain via our optic nerve. It is then the job of the brain to interpret the data and make our image the "right way up". That said, it is reasonable to question how accurate the world around us is when the final image that we "see" is processed by our brain. Many people are also very

Visual illusions are caused by images that are sometimes misleading and deceptive causing our brains to cause illusions in what we see than what is actually there. Two examples I have chosen below include the Scintillating grid illusion in which the contrast of colours converge to cause the illusion of dots in the intersections.

The second illusion I have included an optical illusion whereby the two cirlces seem to be rotating when the viewers head is moving forwards and backwards while looking at the black dot.

Knowers & Knowing

1. 'Shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to recognise that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to recognise that you do not know it. That is knowledge.' (Confucius)


2. 'Where there is shouting there is no true knowledge.' (Leonardo da Vinci)


3. 'Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.' (Martin Luther King)


4. 'Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.' (Francois de La Rochefoucald)


5. 'Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.' (Daniel J. Boorstin)


6. 'It is very good for a man to talk about what he does not understand; as long as he understands that he does not understand it.' (G. K. Chesterton)


7. 'Those who are convinced they have a monopoly on The Truth always feel that they are only saving the world when they slaughter the heretics.' (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)


8. 'A very popular error – having the courage of one’s convictions; rather it is a matter of having the courage for an attack upon one’s convictions.' (Anon)


9. 'There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom.' (Democritus)


10. 'The most important truths are likely to be those which… society at that time least wants to hear.' (W. H. Auden)


11. 'Never assume the obvious is true.' (William Safire)


12. 'The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it.' (Ludwig von Mises)


13. 'The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.' (Anais Nin)


14. 'If one is estranged from oneself, then one is estranged from others too. If one is out of touch with oneself, then one cannot touch others.' (Anne Morrow Lindbergh)


15. 'Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it.' (Buckminster Fuller)


16. 'Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.' (Carl Jung)


17. 'The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.' (Eden Phillpotts)


18. 'The dumbest people I know are those who know it all.' (Malcolm Forbes)


19. 'Self-knowledge is like a garden. If it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.' (Ghanaian proverb)


20. 'In times of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future: the learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.' (Eric Hoffer)


21. 'The more you know the less you understand.' (Tao Le Ching)