Saturday, February 23, 2008

when believing creates seeing

Context matters, as everyone knows. But now we find that context can "create" visual images in a person's brain. If you believe it, you can see it.

An experiment had people record whether they "saw" a gray rectangle that wasn't there. If gray rectangles were around the experimental area, observers "saw" a gray rectangle that wasn't there.

Belief is a powerful thing, and now we know it can create illusions. Of course, belief-driven delusions are even more common.

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