perception

greetings. Something has puzzled me for a long time, and perhaps some of you as well: I live far from the noises of human activity, and often listen to the cacophony of insect, bird, and amphibian sounds. When a cicada hatch happens, for instance, they normally cover a square-mile of forest...

Simple question: Why are things beautiful? I wonder, are there creatures out there on some other planet who wake up, go outside, and find the universe unbearably ugly? Now, let me point out that I'm posting this in the science forum rather than the philosophy forum. I'm not posing a...

What if science could demonstrably show that plants had the ability to experience pain? What would vegetarians and/or vegans do? Not being either I can't comment but if there are any vegetarians/vegans out there that have an opinion, I would be grateful for your input.

Greetings smart people, Just wondering what would this be called, or what may cause it, so I can have a looksee and make sure it isn't anything to worry about. For the last 3-4 days my perception of my centre of balance/self seems to have shifted from somewhere in my noggin to below my...

The Skepticism in the Classroom thread wandered into the territory of optical illusions. I'm sure there are other threads that deal with this, but it's a topic worthy of a periodic refresh. A whole class of excellent optical illusions rely on receptor fatigue. Articulett points us to a Jerry...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9616467/ Pretty interesting read. Thoughts?

Hello, Once again on different lines. If "what can't be perceived can't exist" is the basis of all kinds of meterialism,I have a concrete evidence(my discovery related to the subject of human mind..it's concentration secrets) to dis prove it.Don't you think it would be a kind of rejuvenation...

I regularly watch a UK 'Living TV' show called 'Most Haunted'. Don't ask me why - I can't figure it out either. It's a rehash of the tired old format of ghost hunting programs but done in an upbeat sort of way, involving psychics, sceances and lots of orbs. They periodically do a 'Live' show...

According to the latest commentary: It is true we judge distance using these means, however, there are several other depth cues that we use, any of which can take precedence over any other depending on circumstances: 1)Shading -- we usually assume that light comes from above. This creates a...

i know we've been down this road before, but i really like the topic. alot of people state that perception is reallity, i know that this makes sense, but i do not necessarily agree. i remember in the zen thread, someone stated that the wavelength of light that we percieve as red is always the...

It is my understanding that the average human can neurally represent pure soundwaves within a range of 20hz-20,000hz. But how the brain exacts this neurochemical "match game" is another story. If my understanding is correct, three theories with roots as early as the mid to late 1800's are the...