The Illusion of Light

Consider This:
It is self-evident that the brain, which processes light, does so in complete darkness. Not one photon of light ever goes beyond the retina. In fact, only about 10% of all photons that arrive at the eye ever make it to the retina.

The photons are then absorbed by light absorbing pigments that chemically trigger signals that are transmitted to the optic nerve. A nerve carries data through the complete darkness of the brain, and then reassembles the information in the primary visual center of the brain, located in the occipital lobe at the back of the brain. The brain doesn't actually SEE anything. Only chemical and electrical impulses can SEE. And the question is, is everything being reconstructed properly?

So knowing this, ask yourself if what you see before you, is real, or a well processed illusion. Do you really see the way things are, or are we believing a distorted reality of another sort? Are our eyes trustworthy?

Everything that we all see, is actually taking place BEFORE our brains process it. That is, if a light flashes, it takes the brain one-tenth of a second to realize it has happened. There is a one-tenth of a second DELAY before we are aware of the light flash. So in essence, we are always seeing things one-tenth of a second in the past. That is about the length of time it takes for a normal eye to blink. Watch the cursor on your computer screen - every time you think you see it blink, you are already one full blink behind. That is, the cursor has already blinked again while you're just becoming aware of the first blink.

How easily can our minds be tricked?

Think of a 3-D movie; with only a pair of glasses that delivers different data to each eye, the brain thinks images are coming off the screen. Observe the light in the room, and how bright it is. All of that illumination you are seeing is taking place in the darkness of the brain via chemicals and electrical nerve signals. The brain's understanding of geometry and physics that has been trained into it has allowed the reconstruction of the room for you. Was it done correctly? 

The trickery of our vision has been taking place from birth - we call it our blind spot. The blind spot is the lack of light detection from the photoreceptor cells on the optic disc. This causes part of our visual area to not be perceived, so the brain extrapolates fill-in visuals from the areas that are illuminated, in order to make the picture complete. In other words, we see things that aren't really there on a regular basis. In fact, your brain adds, very substantially, to the report it gets from the eyes, so that a lot of what you see is actually "made up" by the brain.

The brain processes information from the eyes the same way it does when you dream. Except, one source contains a lens, rods, cones and nerves - while the other source, during sleep, comes from someplace else. Ask yourself this - are we really dreaming with our eyes open, and wide awake with our eyes closed? Do you believe everything you think you see?

It all comes down to seeing what we want to see. Since we do not actually know what is all around us, except for what chemicals, nerve signals and what the translation of it all by the brain tells us, we cannot say for sure what is real and what is illusion. Are you sure the wall in front of you is solid? Are you certain that you can see every possible color that exists? The eyes cannot process infrared light - that means that whatever else is taking place in that area of the light spectrum, you would never know about it, even if it took place right next to you. 

A human's visual light spectrum is only a fraction of what exists. How surprised you may be to find out that your dearly departed are merely inches from you as you read this; you just cannot see them because they are operating in a part of the light spectrum that your current body cannot absorb. They are not waaaaay out there. They simply require a different method of interpretation by the brain in order to be SEEN.

 

Let me say it like this: There's a whole lot more out there than meets the eye. 

The one thing I have noticed over the years is - hardly anything is as it APPEARS to be.