Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Flat sreen - part two

In fact, I can relate to what I just described about a flat screen. Indeed, it only took me a minute to see things flat, meaning I should be very familiar with this mode.

I was walking somewhere in the building and there was a man walking in the opposite direction. I noticed that I suddenly became somewhat anxious and tense as he was coming close. The next moment I realized I was tense because I felt he was going to come too close or block the way where I was walking and I will have to slow down or squeeze near him. Yet after a split second I saw him with (some) perception or perspective and realized that, first of all, there was enough room near him to pass and, secondly, he was walking straight and was not going to cross my path.


If I understood Peter correctly (which may not be the case), the limbic brain receives an image from the cornea that can be used for survival mechanisms before a clear image from the retina is delivered. Thus, with farsightedness the limbic brain sees "Oh! Large bear! Danger!" even though  the bear is not that big, but everything appears bigger. Then, in the case I am talking about, there is a distinction between binocular vision at the corneal level as seen in the limbic brain and binocular vision at the retinal level as seen in the visual cortex. This means that I sensed danger because I perceived an object moving in my direction. It was not really in my direction, but at least subconsciously I was not using stereovision, and the conscious interpretation of the background or, in this case, conscious switching to depth perception, was too late, after I was already tense. This then would explain why lack of binocular vision is sometimes associated with anxiety.

On a positive note, I discovered that indeed the very act of looking in the mirror disconnects my eyes. I was actually trying to focus on a point in front of the eye I was trying to look at, instead of looking at the actual eye I was trying to examine, which is somewhat deep in the face, not on the surface. As long as I am thinking of looking at the surface of my face as I am looking at the mirror, the eyes seem to stay together. Same with small objects. I have a lot of difficulty seeing small objects with two eyes, since precision is needed so one eye doesn't slide away from the small object to something else. Currently I learned to look at the objects about the size of a coffee cup while keeping the eyes together; however, I have to consciously look at the surface of the object, even if it is irregular. Previously, it only worked with cars, people, street crossings, trees, and buildings, and by accident, rather than through some conscious action.

Actually, them more I can look at a coffee cup with both eyes, the more relaxing it becomes. I think the issue is that I have never learned to accommodate the eyes properly, since I couldn't get the concept of "looking at" something. The eyes probably tend to accommodate at the same time and to the same distance. Probably, when the eyes are looking in different directions, they may get confused as to what is the right distance for accommodation. It may also have to do with eccentric fixation... I am not really sure, but the fact is, right now when I look at something with both eyes, I relax, but if I close one eye, I feel tension.

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