The gymnast, high above the ground
We all naturally think that our perception of the external world is accurate and correct: why else would it work so consistently for us? By and large, that view is quite correct. The model we have of the world works because our brains constantly make predictions about how the world behaves and when we test it by our actions, the errors are detected and the model is improved. This correction means that we are always improving our model of the physical world, making it more useful.
Chris Frith, a Professor of Neuropsychology, explains how our brain filters out a vast amount of what we perceive. Our vision is constantly corrected by the brain to allow for everything from indistinct features on the edge of our field of view, through to filling in the blind spot on our retinas so we see complete scenes. Our brain routinely compensates for inadequate perception by filling in the details by prediction.
photo { Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk }
related { How your brain creates the fourth dimension. }
