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Adam Zakheim's picture

week 11

Submitted by Adam Zakheim on Sun, 04/12/2009 - 5:00pm.
 In class, we discussed the idea that what we see is not "reality" but a "story", an informed guess about what is out there. If the brain is capable of making these types of visual estimates, does this mean that psychics can really predict the future? Fundamentally, it takes time for our visual cortex to process and interpret information from visible light reaching the eye in order to build a picture that we “see.”             Our visual perception starts when the lens of the eye focuses an image of its surroundings onto the retina. The retina, via the foveal structure, serves to convert patterns of light into neuronal signals which are then carried, via the optic nerve, to different parts of the brain, including the  lateral geniculate nucleus, to the primary and secondary visual cortex of the brain.            It was interesting to learn that evolution has endowed our brains with a slight degree of prognostic capability. Given the complexities of visual perception as well as the constant bombardment of light on our eyes, it makes sense that the brain would try to create a picture of what one “needs” (i.e. a picture of what something will be when one needs it). This mode of perception relies on one’s past experiences to construct the necessary picture. This instinctual quality with in the visual cortex of the brain constantly tries to predict the future.        This brings me to psychics. Out of cynicism and skeptikism, I have never believed psychics could actually predict the future. We have shown, however, that our brains have the ability to contruct and fill in the gaps with in our visual perception and also predict the future to some degree. So, is it possible that someone might have an over-active visual cortex, which nature has endowed with the ability to “acurately” contruct future events?

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