The Grand Illusion

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/05-06/nov12.html#1

This week Quirks and Quarks discussed the nature of consciousness. Jay Ingram discussed his latest book, Theatre of the Mind.

Scientists lack an adequate explanation for consciousness. What we think we perceive is quite different from the data our senses actually gather. This is particularly evident with vision. For example, look at these two alternating photographs with grey space between them, and try to tell what's changing. It takes most people a few minutes.

http://nivea.psycho.univ-paris5.fr/ASSChtml/kayakflick.gif

What we experience as a rich perceptual field does not really exist. Susan Blackmore calls this the Grand Illusion.

She has also discounted her former interest in parapsychology in a statement reminiscent of conclusions about my own mystical experiences.

"Admitting you are wrong is always hard, even though it's a skill every scientist needs to learn," she says.

The stream of consciousness doesn't exist either. As soon as you try to catch yourself unconscious, your brain creates a story from subliminal data. It's like trying to catch the refrigerator light off.

I had to stop surfing and get out my knitting to listen to Ingram's segment. We can carry on certain automatic skills while attention is diverted, but consciousness is far more selective than we realize.

Dad's photos online

My dad's photography has a presence on the Internet now. He took some photos of a heritage site near home, and the curator liked them so much they have been used to create a slide show on the website. Go to Essex Region Consevation Authority, mouse over "Conservation Areas" for a pulldown menu, click on "John R. Park," then in the text click on "virtual tour." It's an interesting collection. There are 70 photos, all Dad's, though the credit doesn't appear until the last frame. He was concerned about the website information at the top, feeling it detracted from the slides. Although I see his point, I assured him this was akin to worrying about the banner of a newspaper. Dad received his first digital camera last Christmas, and is quite proud of this.