A partial index of discussion notes is in http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/misc/AREADME.html
This is a demonstration that you may see something and be totally unaware that you have seen it, simply because you have not processed the information in the right way. Later, even when the original object is out of sight, you can discover what you previously saw, because you still have the information readily available.
However this demonstration will not work for everyone: some people realise immediately what they have seen.
How it works
You should find a familiar announcement in the box.
Please examine it carefully, to make sure you see just a familiar
sentence.
If you see something wrong,
and you are with somebody who sees nothing wrong, please do not say
what you see.
Just let the other person or persons continue with the experiment,
without your saying anything.
After looking at the sentence in the box, please close the image
because the rest of the experiment
depends on your not having it in
sight.
After looking at it, please come back here.
"Blind Man Sees With Subconscious Eye" by Joe Palca
NPR, December 23, 2008
Blind Man Unknowingly Navigates Obstacle Course
Watch A Video Of The Experiment. (Joe Palca, Kathleen Masterson)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98590831&sc=emaf
"TN has what is known as blind sight, according to de Gelder. Even though the primary part of his brain that processes visual information is destroyed, he still has more primitive parts of his brain intact, and these are capable of doing some visual processing. After all, one of the most basic functions of the visual system is to help an animal avoid obstacles or predators. TN still has some visual abilities - he's just not aware he has them."
- For more philosophical and logical fun and challenges see Ron Barnette's web site: Zeno's Coffeehouse including an online mind-reader partly related to this site.
Maintained by
Aaron Sloman
School of Computer Science
The University of Birmingham