Optical Illusions
What is an optical illusion? An optical illusion is like a
"magic picture". An optical illusion fools your brain into thinking
something about a picture that isn't necessarily true. To
understand optical illusions, it is helpful to understand how the
eye works.
The colored circle on your eye is called the iris. The
smaller black circle within the iris is called the pupil. The pupil
lets light into the eye. When you look at an image, light is
reflected off the image and through the pupil of your eye to a
lens behind the iris. The lens projects the image upside down
and backwards to the retina in at the back of the eyeball. The
upside down and backwards picture is then carried to your
brain by nerves in the retina. Once the picture is in your brain, it
is turned right side up so it can be seen correctly and so the
brain can understand what you are seeing.
An optical illusion is a special picture made to fool the
eye. The optical illusion doesn't make sense, so when the
nerves carry the image to the brain the brain has a hard time
comprehending the image. When a person sees an optical
illusion, they often have to look more than once so their brain
can understand the image.
There are several different types of optical illusions. In
figure A, the side lines make it appear as if the central lines are
not equal in length, when in fact, they are. The side lines lead
the eye either outwardly or inwardly. This is called Muller-Lyer
illusion. In figure B, the three concentric circles with bites taken
out of them is an example of closure. Even though there is no
triangle drawn in this picture, the mind unconsciously
completes the triangle that seems to be formed by the bites
taken out of the circles. The Necker Cube, figure C, seems to
"flip-flop", creating the image that the dot is in the front of the
cube and then the cube "flip-flops", and then the dot is in the
back of the cube. In the Ponzo illusion, figure E, the circle with
the tangents looks larger than the other circle. The farther
distance between the tangent lines and the second circle,
creates the illusion that the second circle is smaller. In The
figure-and-ground illusion, figure F, you might see a white vase
Over the past weeks we have learned a lot of new things. I learned about different races, ethnicities, and cultures. The world would not be the same if everyone was the same race and it is a great thing to learn about everyone and where they are from, and where they have come from. Everyone is different in their own way and it is our duty to accept everyone as a whole. I am going to talk about the social construct of race today, some of our readings, and a lot of our discussions that are always fun.
The simple optical illusions used by Ariely show us just how easily our senses can lead our judgments to be distorted. The first illusion was an animation of Shepard’s Tables; an example of size-constancy expansion first published by Roger Shepard as “Turning the Tables”. We know the two tables are the same length but yet why does one table appear to be longer than the other? In this case it is because the angles suggest depth and perspective and the brain wrongly believes one table is longer and while the other in shorter. It is interesting that despite us knowing that the tables are in fact the same length, we still perceive them to be different lengths; despite us knowing the truth, we could not get our minds to see reality as it really is. In the second example, Ariely shows the ...
Walking into a room there are two people sitting on either side of you. To your right, sits a female who is dressed in all black and has multiple piercings and several tattoos. To your left is an average looking and plainly dressed middle aged man. At first glance in each of their directions whom would you suspect to be victim of circumstances and who would you believe to be a murderer? Understanding the scenario can give insight on how in the criminal justice system, appearances and actions contrary to social norms, in addition to prejudice, can influence court decisions and jury trials.
Indeed, Hortentio’s assurance in the taming of the “curst shrow” Katerina seems a wonder to all the audience in the final scene of “The Taming of the Shrew.” After hurling furniture, pitching fits and assaulting her sister, Katerina delivers a speech that lauds obedience and censures rough behavior. Allegedly, this speech demonstrates Katerina’s obedience to her husband, Petruchio, who has forced her to realize the error of her former behavior. Genuine submission, however, is an unlikely disposition for Katerina to adopt. A complete reformation becomes more improbable after an examination of the scenes surrounding her “taming.” Several of these episodes attest to excellence of her acting ability. This evidence suggests her ability to impersonate the character of a tamed shrew. Her dialogue during these moments of obedience seems to mirror the language Petruchio uses earlier to tame her, suggesting that Katerina employs Petruchio’s own dissembling devices against him. Even the nuances of her language, filled with double meanings, belie her supposed transformation.
Advances in technology and the expansion of trade have, without a doubt, improved the standard of living dramatically for peoples around the world. Globalization brings respect for law and human rights and the democratization of politics, education, and finance to developing societies, but is usually slow in doing so. It is no easy transition or permanent solution to conflict, as some overly zealous proponents would argue. In The Great Illusion, Norman Angell sees globalization as a force which results from and feeds back into the progressive change of human behavior from using physical force toward using rational, peaceful methods in order to achieve economic security and prosperity. He believes that nations will no longer wage war against one another because trade, not force, yields profit in the new global economy, and he argues that “military power is socially and economically futile” because “political and military power can in reality do nothing for trade.” While the economic interdependence of nations should prove to be a deterrent from warfare, globalization is not now, and was not a century ago, a prescription for world peace. At the turn of the twentieth century, formal colonialism was still profitable in some regions, universal free trade was not a reality, nationalism was not completely defunct, military force was necessary to protect economic investments in developing locations, and the arms race of the previous century had created the potential for an explosive war if any small spark should set the major powers off against one another. The major flaw in Angell’s argument is his refusal to acknowledge the economic advantages that colonizing powers, even after globalization has started to take shape, can actuall...
We as human beings utilize the five senses to process information about our surroundings. These senses help keep us safe. For example, we use our sense of touch to avoid picking up a hot pan, while our senses of smell and taste prevent us from cooking any rotten food in the pan. Our sense of sight allows us to see an oncoming train, while our sense of sound makes it possible to hear the train’s horn.
You may be wondering how visual art is used to influence the public and prevent the spread of misinformation among a population. In this paper, I will first address the modes of access in order to better understand how to use the same methods in art-making to counter the heighten fear grown from artificial sources and to see if progress is possible. Mirroring methods used in advertising, the media spread information as if it is packaged, a commodity. An extreme, open-ended headline invites doubt into your head. A typical headline reads, “Are you and your family at risk?”, “The Top Ten Things Women Must Know to Keep Safe”, or “Ammo on Airplanes”. The headline is accompanied by a strong visual image; emphasis and contrast as principles of design are employed. The image and the headline stay with you, especially in the current multitask-oriented culture where viewer attention is hard to obtain and keep. Combine this with the juiciest partial details and placement; the image has the power to pull the viewer into an article or a news story. We, the viewers, remember what we see more than what is said or cited. The more graphic and extreme the image, the more likely the image becomes part of our memory. We store the imagery and then can use it later on- pulling up the image as proof in our minds. This exemplifies the availability heuristic, a cognitive bias in which a person relies upon what can easily be remembered rather than complete data.
The painting has an order and there are different shapes and angles. Rectangular shape is main trend around this piece, including the wooden chest, the leg rest and the canvass. Also things overlap, creating the illusion of the shape look closer to viewer than the shape behind it. The example in this piece would be the chair on which Adelaide Labille Guiard sits be close to viewer than the girls behind it. This adds depth to the space. Also due to linear perspective girls behind the chair are smaller due to being farther away.
The Webster dictionary determines perception to be knowledge by the senses and/or life that have an influence on people’s perception (Parker, 2010). The way people perceive things is based on their five senses. The sense of sight was the main sense used in the following experiment, as well as a person’s memory. Eyes tell people what they want to see and want to know. They tell you how to conceive a person and their behaviors as well as their reactions. It essentially judges the world around you. One is able to perceive how a person reacts to certain situations entirely by watching them. Perception applies to the interpretation of what we take in through our senses, in terms of optical illusions. Optical illusions happen because our brains are trying to define what it is that we envision and make sense of the world around us. If perception has no foundation in a person’s experience, a person may literally not perceive it. Perception is a method by which people set up and define their sensory impressions to give significance to their environment. Critical thinking is something we all do, because the regularity may range from person to person.
Sense perception is one of our ways of knowing which is critical to our understanding of the world around us. The above quote by William Blake emphasizes how our perception can be easily altered and unclear to us. Blake’s comment was popular in his day and in ours, giving its name to one of the most celebrated rock groups in the world, The Doors. This prescribed title involves what we consider to be the “truth” and our five windows to the world, sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing inform us constantly about our environment and our accurate perceptions of it. One of the knowledge issues of this prompt is whether or not we can assume everyone has the same concept of “truth”. For the purposes of this paper we will focus on truth being “reality” and what actually exists in our external worlds.
When it comes to the way a person detects and perceives information, sensation and perception are the concepts that are being referred to. Although sensation and perception are two different concepts, they both are connected to each other. Many people are unaware of the ways the mind can accumulate information and they just assume that the mind functions because that is what it expected to do. As sensation and perception play a significant part in the way the mind accumulates information, there are also other valuable aspects of the process. The mind obtains information by hearing, tasting, seeing, smelling, and touching different things and develops it to transmit it into everyday life.
Subliminal Perception is a signal or message embedded in another object, designed to pass below the normal limits of perception. These messages are indiscernible by the conscious mind, but allegedly affect the subconscious or deeper mind. Subliminal techniques have occasionally been used in advertising, but the purpose, effectiveness and frequency of such techniques is debated. It is proven though that stimulation below the level of a person’s conscious awareness can be shown to have on some aspects of behavior. Following my research regarding, subliminal perception, I came to the conclusion that it is used in advertising, but I am not sure to what extent.
What is a photograph? The simplicity of taking a photograph leads many to ponder its artistic value. Yet, it is undeniable that there are some photos that cause an emotional reaction deeper than simply observing a recorded point in time. Surely, there are photographs that cause more reaction than some modern art pieces. There seems to be two types of photographs. The first classification is the ‘time capture’ photo – an image with the sole purpose of recording a particular event or point in time. The second nature of a photo carries a ‘deeper meaning,’ which has the ability to change the observer’s mood and cause a reaction. But what distinguishes these two varieties? There are a couple factors. The first is the ability of the photographer to make a photograph of ‘deeper meaning’ out of an obscure or random scene. The second is the capacity of the viewer, whether viewing the photo in a museum or in the privacy of his/her own room, to interpret the image as art. A photo can be classified as art when the thoughts and interpretations of both the photographer and the viewer overlap. In this case, any photo is taken beyond the simple ‘time capture’ classification.
There are six diagonal lines. At one end there are circles on them giving the impression of three circular prongs. At the other end the same size lines have cross connecting lines consistent with two square prongs. These perceptions can violate our expectations for what is possible often to a delightful effect.
This reflected light passes through the lens and falls on to the retina of the eye. Here, the light induces nerve impulses that travel through the optic nerve to the brain, where it makes an image of the object, and then that image is passed on to muscles and glands.The eye is well protected. It lies within a bony socket of the skull. The eyelids guard it in front. They blink an average of once every six seconds. This washes the eye with the salty secretion from the tear, or lachrymal, glands.