embiny's response

I think our vision is so easily tricked because all of the many complex and interacting systems we use to see and perceive have been so specifically refined and trained to do what they do. Once figured out, an optical illusion can be tailored to trick any one of those particular systems. An optical illusion is immediately taken in by the eye and processed by the brain. I think it’s only then that as the brain thinks about it, what we were tricked into initially seeing would be realized by our brain as it works through the information and fills in the blanks or corrects what we are seeing. Like those dark spinning tubes with dotted light and a bridge going across. Even though I know what they do, I still find myself falling over every time before my perception has time to adjust. Then I can walk fine. But one time I glanced over my shoulder after I had stepped off the bridge, and even though I was standing fairly still, I immediately started falling over again. It goes to show how incre...

  One of the possible causes for the physiological difference between the male and female brains is evolution. Over time, the maternal females won out over other females who weren’t and so their genes were passed on while the other ones died out. Maternal instinct, protecting and nurturing, is vital to a child’s survival into maturity where they could have offspring and continue passing on the gene. That would be an advantageous trait to the longevity of a species.  Male aggression could be linked to that as well, a father who protects his offspring, fights for food, and the perfect cave (haha). That aggressive trait would also be vital for the survival of a lineage and appeal to natural selection.  Its interesting that during “prime years”, females become less assertive and more insecure while males become more dominant. It almost seems like that combination of traits during those mating years would make it easier to pair off, like evolution considered relatively modern ...

 I think dreams provide a kaleidoscopic view into the unconscious mind, made up of a variety of thoughts, experiences, and memories sifted through and preserved by a hard working brain that does its best.  I think our bodies make us dream for a combination of reasons that are outlined in the textbook. I could see how the minds ability to "help sift, sort, and fix" our day to day lives would have been important to our evolving ancestors and even now, especially if it ties into developing and preserving neural pathways. The brain is always trying to process and organize information, it would make sense that even while sleeping it continues to try while also developing itself. I suppose if the brain is active then our conscious has to also be active to a certain degree, resulting in dreams.  I could also see why the frontal lobes of the brain would be idle while conscious as we don't need to thinking rationally or logically or even at all, so why use up the energy to do so. ...