On Sun, 03 Oct 1999 10:35:10 -0500 Jim Matiya
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi Folks,
> My wife asked me why I was in the bathroom alone with a flashlight. I
> told her I was trying to see upside down....I need help
> Here is paraphrasing Marilyn Von Savant column in last week's Parade
> magazine...
> Question: Is is true the eye sees everything upside down and that the
> brain turns it rightside up?
> Answer: "Go into a completely dark room with a little battery operated
> flashlight switched off. Put the bulb end into your mouth. Then turn
> on the switch. Even though the flashlight is below your eyes, you will
> light above your eyes."
>
> I have tried this several times and it did not work. I seem to be
> misunderstanding something. Anybody have any ideas?
>
If Marilyn said the latter that then she is wrong. The retinal
image is inverted of course. The issue of the need for
correction of the inverted retinal image is an old pseudodilemma
that was answered by William Molyneux in 1692 (according to my
copy of Herrnstein and Boring).
The eye is functioning correctly when it can transmit the
relative layout of the environment, which in this case would be
that the light is in your mouth at one position relative to your
nose and your eyes are located on the opposite side relative to
the nose. It doesn't matter whether this image is inverted or
not.
Ken
----------------------
Kenneth M. Steele [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dept. of Psychology
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
USA
