Quotes About Perception

they experience—what they see, hear, think, and

Unweaving the Rainbow

What we see of the real world is not the unvarnished real world but a model of the real world, regulated and adjusted by sense data - a model that is constructed so that it is useful for dealing with the real world.

Physics appears to be a complicated subject, because the ideas of physics are difficult for us to understand. Our brains were designed to understand hunting and gathering, mating and child-rearing: a world of medium-sized objects moving in three dimensions at moderate speeds.

It is precisely because our own human senses are not capable of doing what bats do that we find it hard to believe. Because we can only understand it at a level of artificial instrumentation, and mathematical calculations on paper, we find it hard to imagine a little animal doing it in its head.

Polls suggest that approximately 95 per cent of the population of the United States believe they will survive their own death.

Yet the mathematical calculations that would be necessary to explain the principles of vision are just as complex and difficult, and nobody has ever had any difficulty in believing

The reason for this double standard in our scepticism is, quite simply, that we can see and we can't echolocate.

Many people believe in God because they believe they have seen a vision of him – or of an angel or a virgin in blue – with their own eyes. Or he speaks to them inside their heads. This argument from personal experience is the one that is most convincing to those who claim to have had one. But it is the least convincing to anyone else, and anyone knowledgeable about psychology.

consciousness-raising.

Human suffering has been caused because too many of us cannot grasp that words are only tools for our use, and that the mere presence in the dictionary of a word like 'living' does not mean it necessarily has to refer to something definite in the real world.

As ever when we unweave a rainbow, it will not become less wonderful.

If you think you understand quantum theory . . . you don't understand quantum theory.'*

They may be perceived by the sense organs of other individuals, and they may so imprint themselves on the brains of the receiving individuals that a copy (not necessarily exact) of the original meme is graven in the receiving brain.

Some people have views of God that are so broad and flexible that it is inevitable that they will find God wherever they look for him. One hears it said that 'God is the ultimate' or 'God is our better nature' or 'God is the universe.' Of course, like any other word, the word 'God' can be given any meaning we like. If you want to say that 'God is energy,' then you can find God in a lump of coal.

Our mental burka window is narrow because it didn't need to be any wider in order to assist our ancestors to survive.

we are more inclined to mistake a shadow for a burglar than a burglar for a shadow. A false positive might be a waste of time. A false negative could be fatal.

If you push novelty of language and metaphor far enough, you can end up with a new way of seeing.

Human suffering has been caused because too many of us cannot grasp that words are only tools for our use, and that the mere presence in the dictionary of a word like 'living' does not mean it necessarily has to refer to something definite in the real world. Whether

Bir yan?lg?dan bir kiÅŸi ac? çekiyorsa, buna delilik denir. Bir yan?lg?dan birçok insan ac? çektiÄŸinde ise buna Din denir.

J. Anderson Thomson, bir evrimsel psikiyatristin bak?? aç?s?yla bunun için bana baÅŸka bir sebep gösterir: Hepimizin sahip olduÄŸu, cans?z nesneleri sanki birer ajanlarm?? gibi kiÅŸiselleÅŸtirmeye olan psikolojik eÄŸilimimiz. Thomson'un söylediÄŸi üzere, bir gölgeyi h?rs?z sanmaya, bir h?rs?z? gölge sanmaktan daha yatk?n?zd?r.

A brain that is good at simulating models in imagination is also, almost inevitably, in danger of self-delusion.

These days, I no longer believe there ever are truly good guys or bad guys in war, at least in the Middle East. They're generally shades of gray. But that doesn't translate well on television. It was too complicated. Too remote.

We were meat to be bought and sold. Speaking Arabic made me a curious and unusual product. I didn't want to be special. I didn't want them to be curious about me.