Before we try to better understand the trickier abstract stuff, we can look at the really "obvious" stuff: the things our perceptions reveal to us, the things we are looking at right in front of us.  "There's more than meets the eye," it is said.  How true that is!  But in ways that can surprise, and those surprises can suggest ways to peer deeper into the subtle abstractions of science.
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Explore at the edges of human perception

Who is this?
 


Many of Earth's creatures have perceptions humans lack.
and can use them to do things we can't

Bees see polarization of light and can..??

Sharks perceive weak electric fields and can...??

Some bacteria and some birds perceive weak magnetic fields and can...??

Insects see some of the ultraviolet and can...??

Insect vision is without focused images as has human vision.  They can...??

Bats and cetaceans perceive images with sound waves and can...??

Birds have color richer than human color (to which humans are colorblind) and can...??
 

How do we know?

  1. We discover the underlying science.
  2. We devise and carry out clever experiements which might show us.
  3. We get lucky.
  4. We think about it.


There's still an insurmountable problem:  We can't actually experience these perceptions.  We must "see" indirectly, usually with a good dose of mathematical analysis.  This is "seeing" at the edges of (easy) human comprehension.  (Though some of it is well within the limits of easy comprehension for those "lower" animals.)

On the other hand, sometimes what we see
is more what we would like to see
than what is actually there.

So we are rich in:

You, too, can prove absolutely ANYTHING...
Unsuspected dimensions always lie in front of you...look for them...
Modern science is all too often seen as useless...


"Now I admit that nature can't improve upon man.
We're probably the supreme being."
Floyd Dominy,
Comissioner, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (1959 - 1969)



 

Quantum Jumps
Quantum Jumps
to Opening Page
to Index Page
to the simple but difficult puzzles
to the Misconceptions workshop
to Wason's gate into the Edge
to the fine print		 to Second Glances Navigator
to the zoo and the perceptions exemplar
to The Platinum Plover Egg
to Accurate Maps
to Glen Canyon Navigator
to your humble Webmasters: Email us!