Seeing your hands with your eyes closed in a dark room

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by Magical Realist, Aug 10, 2013.

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  1. dumbest man on earth

    dumbest man on earth Real Eyes Realize Real Lies Valued Senior Member

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    It is quite evident from your Posts that a large mirror is not all that you are lacking.
    At any rate, the mirror would only need to be as large as your field of vision relative to the distance between your eye/eyes and the mirror.
    But, please do not allow facts, truths or reality to enter your field of vision.
     
    dumbest man on earth, Aug 11, 2013
    #21

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  3. bodebliss

    bodebliss Registered Member

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    Who Knew?

    An experiment by modern professional scientist says it's possible. I can't post the link on io9.com (people who can see in pitch darkness).
     
    bodebliss, Dec 31, 2013
    #22

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  5. Dinosaur

    Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    I have been in total darkness a few times. Not a spelunker but I do a lot of traveling & sight seeing. In the two or more times I have been in total darkness, I could see zilch & nobody else reported seeing more.

    Seeing anything in total darkness is due to an active imagination, delusion, or misrepresention of the facts. Many call the latter lying.
     
    Dinosaur, Jan 5, 2014
    #23

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  7. siledre

    siledre Registered Senior Member

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    I can totally see in the dark, I just can't tell what I'm looking at.
     
    siledre, Jan 5, 2014
    #24
  8. billvon

    billvon Valued Senior Member

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    That's because your somatic perception does not shut down when you are thinking about something else. For example, I assume you can walk and think - which means part of your brain is still keeping track of where your feet are.
     
    billvon, Jan 5, 2014
    #25
  9. Kittamaru

    Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    This is your kinesthetic sense at work - in essence, your body "knows" where it is in relation to itself, and since you cannot "see" in the traditional sense, it sort of tricks your mind into seeing your hands where they are, in an effort to get some semblance of location. It's a really, really cool trick of the mind

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
    Kittamaru, Jan 5, 2014
    #26
  10. Fraggle Rocker

    Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    See Kittamaru's response:

    We have many more than the "five senses" identified by the ancients.
    • Touch itself is not a single sense; we feel pressure, stretch, temperature, etc.
    • We have long known that there are four distinct kinds of taste receptors (sweet, salt, sour, bitter), but a fifth was recently discovered: umami (a Japanese word) or "savory" in English. (The entire cat family lacks the sweet receptor, which is why housecats almost never die from eating chocolate: it doesn't taste good to them.)
    • We have a great many different odor receptors, including the ability to sense pheromones, which don't result in a conscious smell but go straight to the brain and induce fear, anxiety, trust, sexual desire, etc. (The "silent" odor of a woman's tears causes a strong protective reaction in most men.)
    • Balance is another sense, managed by the fluid in our semicircular canals. It's hard to walk if they're not working. Gravity is a related sense that utilizes the same hardware.
    • And, as Kittamaru explains, we have a kinesthetic sense. Our brain keeps track of where our muscles place the various parts of our body. Virtually every healthy person can touch his nose, clap his hands, etc. with his eyes closed. We can find and scratch an itch on our scalp or back with no trouble.
    Our brain is quite versatile. If we are in the habit of spending a lot of time in the dark, it will helpfully synthesize a visual image of our body parts to make us a little bit more adept at working in that environment.

    Most of us don't do enough of that for our brain to find a need for the synthesis. Obviously, M.R. does, and his brain has risen to the challenge.
     
    Fraggle Rocker, Jan 7, 2014
    #27
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