4 ms·

The woman with a strange 'second sight'

45 points by jeffwass 10y ago

NoGravitas 10y ago
That's a very content-light article on blindsight. Perhaps you'd prefer the [wikipedia article][0]. Or perhaps you'd prefer the [Peter Watts novel][1]? [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight [1]: http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm
- rifish 10y ago
  It can be read alongside this article which explains more of the science: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150925-blindsight-the-strangest-form-of-consciousness http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150925-blindsight-the-stra...
- mathewsanders 10y ago
  I love the Blindsight series... had no idea they were available with Creative Commons license! Another fiction that uses blindsight as part of the story is 'As She Climbed Across The Table' it has been a long time since I read it, but I think it was used to observe a quantum effect without being affected by [concious] observation. Didn't make much sense to me at the time but it's a book I often recommend to people that think they don't like science fiction.
- Arizhel 10y ago
  "Content-light" is being rather charitable; I was going to say this article is absolutely terrible. It's like they started writing a really interesting article about this lady, then just stopped 1/3 of the way through without getting into any detail of her ability at all.
notacoward 10y ago
Not quite the same thing, but related and IMO just as cool: human echolocation. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-human-echolocation-allows-people-to-see-without-using-their-eyes-1916013/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-human-echol...
kneel 10y ago
So they're not actually blind (their eyes work) but their visual cortex doesn't perceive a conscious view of the world, they're somehow able to perceive the world without the visual cortex.
- metaphorm 10y ago
  correct. blindsight is a fascinating topic in cognitive neuroscience because it is direct evidence for the existence of multiple different cognitive subsystems for visual processing, and it is fascinating that each of these subsystems has very different attributes w.r.t representation as objects of consciousness, reaction time, resolution, etc.
- beaconstudios 10y ago
  is it that their visual cortex doesn't work, or that it does but the pathway between the visual cortex and prefrontal cortex is severed? It seems like she can see, but her conscious mind isn't getting the data - so when she's acting automatically, her subconscious mind still picks up the visual information and reflexively acts accordingly.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
alberth 10y ago
I wonder if "blindsight" explains the conspiracy theory that Stevie Wonder can see https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgngvsWLlE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgngvsWLlE
corpMaverick 10y ago
> “The way Dutton explained it was ‘Don’t think about it too much, just go and do it. Don’t think too much in your mind.’ It was my subconscious mind telling me how to do that task and to avoid hitting the chairs. Remind me the "Use the force Luke" scene. Perhaps she should get her Midi-chlorians tested.
Nomentatus 10y ago
We all have blindsight re subliminal stimuli and can "guess" where these appeared with something like 80% accuracy.

45 points by jeffwass 10y ago

That's a very content-light article on blindsight. Perhaps you'd prefer the [wikipedia article][0]. Or perhaps you'd prefer the [Peter Watts novel][1]? [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight [1]: http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

rifish 10y ago
It can be read alongside this article which explains more of the science: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150925-blindsight-the-strangest-form-of-consciousness http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150925-blindsight-the-stra...
mathewsanders 10y ago
I love the Blindsight series... had no idea they were available with Creative Commons license! Another fiction that uses blindsight as part of the story is 'As She Climbed Across The Table' it has been a long time since I read it, but I think it was used to observe a quantum effect without being affected by [concious] observation. Didn't make much sense to me at the time but it's a book I often recommend to people that think they don't like science fiction.
Arizhel 10y ago
"Content-light" is being rather charitable; I was going to say this article is absolutely terrible. It's like they started writing a really interesting article about this lady, then just stopped 1/3 of the way through without getting into any detail of her ability at all.

notacoward 10y ago

Not quite the same thing, but related and IMO just as cool: human echolocation. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-human-echolocation-allows-people-to-see-without-using-their-eyes-1916013/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-human-echol...

kneel 10y ago

So they're not actually blind (their eyes work) but their visual cortex doesn't perceive a conscious view of the world, they're somehow able to perceive the world without the visual cortex.

metaphorm 10y ago
correct. blindsight is a fascinating topic in cognitive neuroscience because it is direct evidence for the existence of multiple different cognitive subsystems for visual processing, and it is fascinating that each of these subsystems has very different attributes w.r.t representation as objects of consciousness, reaction time, resolution, etc.
beaconstudios 10y ago
is it that their visual cortex doesn't work, or that it does but the pathway between the visual cortex and prefrontal cortex is severed? It seems like she can see, but her conscious mind isn't getting the data - so when she's acting automatically, her subconscious mind still picks up the visual information and reflexively acts accordingly.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

alberth 10y ago

I wonder if "blindsight" explains the conspiracy theory that Stevie Wonder can see https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgngvsWLlE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgngvsWLlE

corpMaverick 10y ago

> “The way Dutton explained it was ‘Don’t think about it too much, just go and do it. Don’t think too much in your mind.’ It was my subconscious mind telling me how to do that task and to avoid hitting the chairs. Remind me the "Use the force Luke" scene. Perhaps she should get her Midi-chlorians tested.

Nomentatus 10y ago

We all have blindsight re subliminal stimuli and can "guess" where these appeared with something like 80% accuracy.