Do We Know What We See?

Do We Know What We See? An Experiment Sows Doubt - WSJ: "Here's another possibility. We know that people can extract some information from images they can't actually see—in subliminal perception, for example. Perhaps you processed the letters unconsciously, but you didn't actually see them until you heard the cue. Or perhaps you just saw blurred fragments of the letters. Prof. Block describes many complex and subtle further experiments designed to distinguish these options, and he concludes that we do see more than we remember. But however the debate gets resolved, the real moral is the same. We don't actually know what we see at all! You can do the Sperling experiment hundreds of times and still not be sure whether you saw the letters. Philosophers sometimes argue that our conscious experience can't be doubted because it feels so immediate and certain. But scientists tell us that feeling is an illusion, too." (read more at link above)


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