Is The World What It Seems To Be?

Dear Senserely yours,
I recently watched a magic show and I want to know if magic really does exist or is it all just a trick? Are there things in the world that we really cannot see? If this is so, does that mean not everything we see is what it seems to be?

Nick

Dear Nick,

Before we begin, I'd like you to take a look at this elephant.

How many legs do you see? Four? Five? Six, maybe?

One can never be sure how many legs this elephant has because this is one of the many examples of optical illusions. An optical illusion is a visual deception where your brain misinterprets what your eyes see making you see things that do not seem to be. According to Michael Bach, an illusion is "a mismatch between the immediate visual impression and the actual properties of the object.” This illusion is achieved through various ways such as the arrangement of images, varying degrees of light sources, and the impact of colors (Cherry, 2012).

When we look at an object, light entering our eyes allows us to see the things around us. However, our brain processes these images and this is how we perceive things. When we perceive, there is a possibility that the brain interprets these images wrongly. According to Neirenberg (2009), one good example of a visual illusion is floaters. These are the small black spots that seem to “float along your field of vision. These however are not real black spots floating in the air but rather are cause by irregularities in the fluid that fills the eyes. Another Neirenberg cited was when you see stars after having a blow to the head. These “stars” are actually results of a “mechanical stimulation and activation in your eye which the brain perceives as light.” Aside from this, learned perceptions also influence our perception of the world (VisionRx, 2005). We may perceive objects differently when they are outside our past perceptions and experiences.

So the next time you aren’t sure if the line you are looking at is straight or curved, or if you see small black dots floating through your field of vision, remember that these are just misinterpretations made by our brain. Magicians do not really perform magic but instead play with the limitations of our visual perceptions to create the illusion of performing magic. Although our brain is one of the most powerful machines in the world, it is still limited to processing only what our senses perceive. This means that not everything in our world is as it seems and some things are not what they seem to be. 

Senserely yours,
Dea

References:

Cherry, K. (2012). How Do Optical Illusions Work?. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/b/2012/01/09/how-do-optical-illusions-work.htm.

VisionRx (2005). Optical Illusions.  Retrieved from http://www.visionrx.com/library/optical_illusion.asp.

Neirenberg, C. (2009). Optical Illusions: When Your Brain Can't Believe Your Eyes. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/EyeHealth/optical-illusions-eye-brain-agree/story?id=8455573.