Re: Evolution 101
Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:32 am - 21569
Very interesting experience Larry. I'm sure depth perception means
much more to you than others that never went through the experience.
However, I'm not saying now or ever that any new development in
evolution or ability will ever run contrary to any of the laws of
physics or the universe. All the higher lives merely use the laws we
know and some we do not know to remove limitations.
The all-seeing eye uses natural law to see in the physical and also
higher planes as well as wavelengths not available to the normal
human, It can not only see through physical objects but around them
and thus has a depth perception much greater than the two eyes,
making two eyes unnecessary.
The all permeating light of the spirit is everywhere making universal
vision possible.
JJ
JJ writes:
Why are you assuming that evolution cannot
create one eye that can do the work of two
or be better than two?
Do you understand how our eyes currently help us get a three
dimensional picture of the world? Neither eye in itself can do this
(and in fact both eyes by themselves cannot do it). It is only by the
cooperation of the two eyes _and_ some very special mental
manipulation that we actually perceive 3-dimensionality.
Binocular vision in humans works because two eyes are separated by a
short distance. The picture seen by each retina is _slightly_
different. The difference is great for objects nearby and becomes
imperceptible for very distant things. A 3D perception of the world is
built up in the brain, which computes the retinal differences and
interprets them as 3D.
In other words the brain can compare the two pictures and learn to
compute distance from that. It is actually similar in principle to how
battleships compute the range for firing projectiles. Two optical
devices are focused simultaneously on the same target and the distance
to the object is computed by the difference in angle of the two devices.
In every case it takes two optical devices separated by some known
distance creating a composite image to make the calculation.
I am personally very aware of this because I was a teenager before I
actually ever experienced 3-dimensional sight. Most people take this
for granted because they have always experienced it, but I was born
with very different acuity between my left and right eyes. My left eye
was 20-20 for distance but could not resolve very close objects. My
right eye is very nearsighted in that it is good for reading, but
cannot resolve anything much farther away. Without correction I have
no depth perception.
When I got prescription glasses for the first time as a teenager it
was literally a revelation to experience the world in full three
dimensionality. I found this rather marvelous at first until I got
used to it.
The point is that we perceive this 3-dimensionality through well
understood laws of physics. The eye is an extremely specialized organ
that is adapated to respond to a fairly small range of light frequency
and is coupled with a very well developed mental process to evaluate
the input. While other means of perception might very well evolve, it
is hard to believe that there would be any evoltionary advantage to
abandoning such a well developed and effective mechanism that is
perfectly adapted to life on earth (as long as we live on Earth).
lk
Copyright © 2005 by J J Dewey, All Rights Reserved
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