Chapter 3 of 10All chapters
Chapter 3 of 10
What illusions show
Assumptions made visible.
Not failures
Illusions arise when the visual system applies a normally correct assumption to an unusual case: that light comes from above, that shadows dim surfaces, that parallel lines converge with distance.
- The checker shadow illusion survives knowing about it, which shows the process is not under conscious control.
- The Muller-Lyer arrows illusion varies with cultural environment.
Categories
Illusions of brightness, size, colour, motion and impossible objects each expose a different assumption. Studying them is how much of vision science progressed.