01:830:301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: George Berkeley, Optical Illusion, Necker Cube
Document Summary
Our link and access to the world. Perception informs an organism about: what is in its env"t, where it is. Evolutionarily significant actions: flee from predators, hunt/gather food, find mates, navigate and etc. Physical world is the world that we can measure w/ use of scientific instruments. Perceptual world is the world as we perceive it. Response 1: they are one and the same thing. Na ve realism: the world is simply as it appears: ex. I see the apple as round and red because it is round and red: ex. I feel the water as cold because it is cold: hence, no real mystery about perception, problems with na ve realism. We are sensitive to a small fraction of physical energy around us. Electromagnetic spectrum: our ears cannot detect: low freq sounds (<20 hz) and high frequency sounds (>22,000hz) We cannot perceive: electric fields and magnetic fields. Sharks can sense electrical trails left by their prey.
