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61 Comments
- WordsnCollision, on 02/13/2009, -2/+38Now if they could only stop those hand movements...
- gcnaddict, on 02/14/2009, -0/+32HIGHLY misleading title. The title implies that, without these persistent flickering movements, we would lose our sight. The article actually states that the image itself merely fades from view if our eyes could be perfectly trained on an image because the retina wouldn't be properly refreshed.
In reality, the article is talking about retinal fatigue as opposed to actually going "blind." For example: if you're in a photographic dark room (which is actually red), once you step out, everything is temporarily lacking redness because of the fatigue the persistence of red induced on your retina. - michelsonmorley, on 02/13/2009, -1/+20This has been known for a long time - they are called saccadic movements.
Personally, I think it's the reason why this stationary image appears to keep moving:
http://www.plig.net/things/optical/tn/rotsnake.gif ... - dragtre, on 02/14/2009, -0/+10Awesome, so we basically have a built-in screensaver.
- the2989, on 02/14/2009, -1/+6BREAKING: read the article
- kaoitik, on 02/14/2009, -1/+5In related news, blindness makes you unable to see.
- jason0802, on 02/14/2009, -0/+4and in other news... penile movements prevent sterility
- Zaeboes, on 02/14/2009, -0/+3This is actually quite informative. I used to focus my eyes on one point and for a reason I didn't understand, the room would become darker slowly. I've even made the room go completely black, but it's really easy to disrupt. Now I know why!
- HyphySoul, on 02/14/2009, -2/+5Then how come I'm not blind from staring at boobies?
- G001, on 02/14/2009, -0/+3Yup, I did this as a kid. Laying in bed in a semi-dark room I found if I could stare at something long enough without shifting my eyes or blinking I could make it disappear. It's easy with small things (a light switch with not much around it but blank wall) but hard with large things (the bedroom mirror. With much difficulty I could make parts of the mirror black out so it looked like a solid wood frame, but never the whole thing.) If you move your eyes even slightly the edges tend to come back.
I'm trying it now but it's been a long time. I can get the edges to fade on my lightswitch maybe half the time, and I got half of it to momentarily fade out twice. The problem is your eyes are naturally drawn to the changes, so once it starts to work your gaze wants to shift which kills it. You have to kind of unfocus a bit.
I bet there's going to be a bunch of people trying it now, and it's going to be like those stereograms. Some people can do it with practice, some people try it twice and call *****, and some people will struggle and struggle and never get anywhere. - maexus, on 02/14/2009, -1/+4I can stare at it and really focus to make it stop moving, then my eyes get weird, out of focus and uncomfortable. Weird.
- briantw, on 02/14/2009, -0/+3Oh, what the heck - couldn't help Googling it, and I found that U.S. flag thingie - stare at the dot for a minute and look away - you'll see the full-colour:
http://newsongonline.org/us-flag-negative.jpg - themastersb, on 02/14/2009, -0/+3It's like a screensaver or burn in reduction, but for eyes.
- gatewaydrug, on 02/14/2009, -0/+3All good, as long as I don't start seeing flying toasters.
- briantw, on 02/14/2009, -0/+3Buried for inaccuracy. They buried the lead - the key is in the 'air quotes' around "blind" at the end of the article.
The fading thing is old. If you stare at something for a long time, your retina retains a negative of the image, even when you look away. I learned this from a Popular Mechanics from the 40's. they had a U.S. flag in negative colours. If you stared at it for a minute, then looked at a white surface, you saw the flag hanging there in mid-air in the proper colours. Same if you stare at the sun or a bright light. Look away and you'll see a black hole.
Nowadays you can make your own negatives on your computer and stare at them for a minute or so (the longer the better, and don't move your eyes if you can help it - stare at a spot), then look away, preferably at a white surface. Do it with something you're interested in, hopefully something colourful (like a Star Wars poster :-)
So this 'blindness' thing is just a short-term artefact of staring, not the disability the disappointing, sensational Telegraph headline eluded to. I did expect more from them. - LordBacon, on 02/14/2009, -0/+2Those hand movements give me deaf.
- gcnaddict, on 02/14/2009, -0/+2Nope, didn't work. However, while we're on the subject:
YOU ARE NOW BREATHING MANUALLY. - Murdats, on 02/14/2009, -0/+2its the telegraph, I saw the title and thought misstated title, sensationalist and fundamentally misunderstood, its daily mail or telegraph.
also these movements are needed so you can ignore things like the dead cells in your eyeball or other eyeball based items. - gmiley, on 02/14/2009, -0/+2I was about to post the same thing. I was under the impression that this was somewhat well-known information. You can force your eyes to stay motionless (a little difficult, but completely doable), and when you do so your vision begins to fade around the outer edges. The longer you can hold your focus on one point the more your vision fades until you cannot see anything.
You can try it yourself. Sit in a well lit room, draw a dark dot (or some other mark) on a sheet of paper taped to the wall, or a whiteboard several feet away. Concentrate on that mark without letting your eyes shift, and try to keep yourself from blinking. Eventually tunnel-vision starts setting in and progressively gets worse the longer you maintain your stare. - InfernoX, on 02/14/2009, -0/+2pfft all you have to do is unfocus your eyes and it stops.
- kahn2001, on 02/14/2009, -0/+2you blink when you are drooling all over them
- InfinitySnatch, on 02/14/2009, -0/+2***** you. I was thinking about it too hard and passed out.
- briantw, on 02/14/2009, -0/+2Actually, yeah, that's a great analogy. Nice one!
- benicillin1, on 02/14/2009, -0/+2thats quite a broad definition of the word blind
- jcc6655, on 02/14/2009, -1/+3I don't understand how the image would fade off of the retina if the eye didnt move. I mean light reflects off of an object & enters the eye through the pupil. The light doesnt stop reflecting if the eye stops moving.
- FrankFutter, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1May I recommend searching for Schwartz's "Visual Perception" in google books. It's required reading for all optometry students in the US and Canada. and it'll explain the need for microsaccades to prevent this "blindness" as well as other phenomena and visual illusions.
- NickLee808, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1Careful. You'll grow hairy palms.
- stutimandal, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1Try this simple Yoga exercise:
- Every morning, sit with back straight and neck vertical and relaxed (15 seconds). If possible fold your legs in lotus posture.
- Fold your fist but keep one finger straight. Bring your straight finger (aligned with direction of nose) at 25 cm distance from between the two eyes. (10 seconds)
- Focus your eyes on finger. Slowly move the focus towards a distant object (Anything 20 feet or away would qualify)
- Bring the focus back towards the finger.
- Repeat it a few times.
It takes about 2 minutes to do it but it strengthens the eye muscles. - gcnaddict, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1I'm going to point you to my post directly below yours to answer your question.
- makkaveli19, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1WTF! Frontpage has become a british tabloid whore.
Telegraph, The sun, daily mail, ect. wtf digg! - tomz17, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1agreed... this has been known for a long time.
- realunderdog, on 02/16/2009, -0/+1You mean like Masturbation?
Who the hell started this fapping crap anyhow? - kornwin, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1YOU ARE NOW IMAGINING THIS COMMENT BEING READ TO YOU IN MY VOICE, ALONG WITH ANYTHING ELSE.
- inactive, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1I agree 100% misleading. The movements don't prevent blindness they prevent an image from fading too quickly from the retina. However I will continue to stir fixedly at large breasts without any fear of losing my vision. Anyhow I can always cop a feel if I go blind.
- knightoflite, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1*rolling eyes*
- onClipEvent, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1if i'm really tired or relaxed (from a beer, for example), i can do that very easily.
- CandidateZero, on 02/15/2009, -0/+1The featured expert _in the article itself_ uses quotes when saying the tiny movements prevent "blindness" (or rather image-fade), but that was oddly absent from the headline.
Apparently, the telegraph is unfamiliar with the function of the quote-unquote idiom. - anotherjack, on 02/15/2009, -0/+1The British are coming! The British are coming! It's gone all pear shaped! I'm going to Gujarat to make salt by the sea! Who's with me?? Let's dump more and more flouride in the water until they go away!
Its a "World Wide" web, not actually located in North America. - GlassAgate, on 02/15/2009, -0/+1Eye movements != eye blink
- briantw, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1Yeah, but your retina starts compensating for the colours => see my post below.
- briantw, on 02/14/2009, -0/+1Yeah, note that if you keep your eyes really really still, it seems to stop moving. No wait, it stops seeming to move. Or something.
- horde35, on 02/15/2009, -0/+1Buried for misleading description. Good article but not news.
- themastersb, on 02/14/2009, -1/+1yeatga i realluy hate paarruikinssons.
- dext3r, on 02/14/2009, -1/+0dugg.
- kahn2001, on 02/14/2009, -0/+0I guess you have never seen a cow that has not been milked?
- OneRottenTomato, on 02/14/2009, -1/+1Time to move to a beach house.
- Zaeboes, on 02/14/2009, -0/+0I found that the image only stays still when I focus my eyes at a point a few centimeters past the image.
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