You Are Not So Smart 176 - Socks and Crocs - Part Two
Mar 26, 2020
Pascal Wallisch, an NYU neuroscientist known for his work on color vision and perception, dives into the fascinating science behind how our past experiences shape our interpretation of reality. He explores the viral dress phenomenon and the curious case of socks with Crocs, revealing how personal traits influence visual perception. Wallisch discusses the complexities of seeing colors under varying conditions and the role of context in shaping our understanding, especially during crises where misperceptions can lead to misunderstanding.
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Brain Constructs Reality Using Priors
- The brain constructs reality using prior experiences to interpret ambiguous sensory information.
- Distance is not sensed directly but inferred by learned correlations, illustrating substantial uncertainty in perception.
Priors Shape Perception Under Uncertainty
- Substantial uncertainty combined with prior experiences (priors) cause different people to perceive the same ambiguous image differently.
- The brain sometimes fabricates perceptions based on priors to resolve uncertain sensory information, like seeing strawberries as red without red pixels.
Crocs Appearance Changed by Lighting
- Michael Karlovich observed pink Crocs appearing gray under green grow lights.
- This demonstrated how lighting conditions can alter color perception by influencing which wavelengths the brain receives.