The proper way to view optical illusions

So I posed om this before but here is a clean understanding of how to use optical illusions.

The Stereogram is extraordinary. Cross ones eyes (either way) until the two videos overlap and you suddenly have an evolving 3D shape in the space in front of you. It is like a ghost, an ethereal entity not of this world.

 

And we dismiss it again just as quickly as an optical illusion. Of course it is there, I crossed my eyes. Uncross them an it disappears. I am in total control, nothing to see here and we don't think about it again.

But go back and create the rotation 3D shape. You did create it! It is there.

Now how did you create it?

You crossed your eyes to overlap the videos, which would normally happen if you were looking at something in the real world. Because of perspective your eyes would get slightly different images and the brain turns that into the sense of 3D.

And that is our first clue. The brain does the work. It is the brain that causes this illusion.

And it is the brain that causes both the illusion, and the real sense of 3D. They are both the same! Whether the brain is caused to do this by a real object or a trick makes no difference: in both cases it creates the sense of 3D.

And now we see that the sense of 3D is not in the world, but is created by certain circumstances.

Going back to the trick now. Sit and look at it. The trick demonstrates clearly that the 3D is not in the object: there is no 3D object there. It proves that the 3D is created by the brain.

And we can extend this to everything sensory. The consciousness and experience of the world is actually created by the brain.

But before we go idealist and Bishop Berkley to argue there is no real world we need remember that the brain doesn't just go doing this all the time. The brain only creates this 3D experience in a very specific situation: namely when the two eyes are seeing something almost the same but slightly different as it would in a case of perspective. Any images into the eyes meeting this condition lead to the experience.

So we are not saying the brain is just making all this stuff up. While it is creating the experience, it only does it when it is caused to do so.

And here we see us sneak a very subtle thing into our opinion of this. We see it as senses triggering an experience in and for the brain. We want to say that the brain is where it is all happening. This is what leads to the idealist. They are prepared to dump the external causes of this and just focus on the experience as though it was "in the brain" or the "head" or, and most importantly, for "me."

 But a simple thought can stop that. If all this is for "me" then isn't that itself for "me." The placing of everything "in" or "before" or "in relation" to some "me" means everything must be put in this arrangement, even the arrangement itself. Consider a King who says everything must bow to him, either animate or inanimate: everything. Then he means that even bowing must bow to him. And a step further even he must bow to himself. Once we force this "everything" it quickly defeats itself. This is Godel, SRH or as it is newly name UIP.

Moving on from that piece of logic, we can't just go placing the whole world before something. The point of the 3D experience is that while it is created by the brain, it is caused by external conditions. And this means that no one thing is "where it happens." No crossing eyes means no experience of 3D. It is this which means we normally ignore it. We focus on the crossing eyes bit. But it is more fascinating to focus on the experience that this creates. That is beyond miraculous. We think TV is an amazing invention. It is nothing compared with the actual process that creates 3D experience.

But we can move on now from just 3D. All senses are like this, because created by the brain being triggered in the right way. And in fact it extends to feelings and thoughts. This blog entry in fact is doing the exact same thing to the reader triggering thoughts and imagination.

So we get two amazing things for stopping on this illusion:
(1) an appreciation that the powers that can create that illusion are in fact the exact same ones that create the world world, right here and now.

(2) It does not occur for anyone, or indeed anywhere. If we wish to give it a place it is between the brain and the sensory data that triggered the brain. Both are needed. But that is not correct because would not that idea there need to be in the same place?