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That's... not normal? Like, not a huge amount normally but a faint overlay that's there if you look for it, and much more visible in low light? What about edge
by taneq 4y ago
That's... not normal? Like, not a huge amount normally but a faint overlay that's there if you look for it, and much more visible in low light?
What about edges, do people normally see them as having a kind of 'invisible glow'? It's hard to describe but they seem emphasized. I guess it looks a bit like ringing (in the signal processing sense, like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringing_artifacts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringing_artifacts)
- disntthinkthis 4y agoI feel like it’s normal but people just don’t notice. Light is naturally noisy.
- akomtu 4y agoAll five senses have this static noise in background: they are mediated by a number of discretely activated neurons, and in case of light, the photons themselves are discrete.
- danparsonson 4y agoNo it certainly is not normal, and in the case of my friend only started within the last six months. There's more information here so you can get an idea what I'm talking about: https://visualsnowsyndrome.com/ https://visualsnowsyndrome.com/
- disntthinkthis 4y agoThat sounds severe and so unlike what I’ve experienced. But some amount of noise in vision is normal, you just don’t notice it unless you focus on it, or have a background that really makes it apparently. Light is inherently noisy. If you look at a blank sheet of paper and all you see is #FFFFFF, you’re not paying attention.
- danparsonson 4y agoOne theory I've heard is that we normally filter out the noise but in some people that's not happening and thus they experience VSS. Likewise for tinnitus.
- taneq 4y agoWow, yeah that sounds annoying. I wouldn't characterize mine as 'bad', it's always been like that so it's just what things look like. It's not annoying and doesn't make it hard to function. I do get an interesting number of the listed associated symptoms (in small amounts), though. Photosensitivity, lens flares at night, tinnitus (not the hearing damage type, just a permanent high pitched hiss like an old CRT, basically sounds like what this looks like.)
- danparsonson 4y agoI think it's common for people who develop this condition at an early age to assume that everyone perceives the world in the same way as they have no objective reference frame - a bit like those stories of people who grow up thinking bananas are spicy when in fact they're mildly allergic to them. It may be that you have a mild version of VSS, or maybe your vision is atypical in some other way? The comparison with tinnitus is appropriate in the case of VSS, as I understand that it's theorised to be the visual equivalent.
- sneed_chucker 4y agoI don't think it's normal, but I do think that a lot more people can/do see static and other visual phenomenon and don't think it's unusual. If it hasn't bothered you so far, don't let it bother you now.