Is the Visual World a Grand Illusion?. Interesante debate entre dos filósofo (aunque breve, porque es la transcripción de un programa radiofónico) sobre la naturaleza de nuestra percepción del mundo. Abrimos los ojos y el mundo que vemos ¿en qué medida se corresponde con el mundo real? ¿Qué distancia hay entre la realidad y la percepción que tenemos de la misma?
Natasha Mitchell: Now don?t be unsettled by this but opening our eyes poses a huge philosophical problem. It goes something like this, as with Alice, could all of us be living in a Wonderland of sorts? When we peer out into the world is all that we see potentially a confabulation ? a grand visual illusion staged by our brain?
To the world?s leading philosophers and cognitive scientists these are very serious and very current questions and they go to the heart of the age-old problem of human consciousness.
At least 50% of the outer layer of the brain ? the neocortex- appears to be directly involved in vision so this suggests to most that the brain plays a big role. But how does it account for what it feels like to see, the whole conscious experience of vision? And though we like to think that our visual experience is rich, continuous and connected, are we actually in direct contact with the world when we see? Does the brain directly translate everything into it?s own special neuronal language? Or is it corrupted on the way?
(vía 0xDECAFBAD)
