I like seeing 'close up' magic, and can be fooled by distraction and patter as well as most,
Not surprisingly, the same things can catch us out on-road too.
But I bet you're not easily folled or caught out, are you?
No? You're one of the 'savvy' ones who sees through scams, and not a sucker like me.
I bet you can always see what's right in front of your eyes!
Really?
OK, then, here's a challenge for you:
Step away from the computer, and head for the nearest mirror.
Get close, perhaps less than a foot away, so nothing can distract you.
Look at your eyes.
Don't blink!
Can you see them clearly?
Now look sideways, then back to the front, then sideways again - all the time watching for your eyes moving.
After all, you can have missed anything, can you?
Well, actually you can.
It's called a 'saccade', and while your eyes are moving you can't 'see' - you're only aware when your eyes are fixed on a point. Your vision - what you see - is a series of 'fixed' views.
Remember this the next time you think "He must have seen me . . . !"
More on saccades
Final question: Since you've been reading this, how many times did your 'view' of the screen dim as you blinked? Unless you had a speck of dirt you were trying to remove, it's unlikely you'll have notived any blinking . . .
Ain't vision interesting? :)
The picture, by the way, is Man Ray's 'Glass Tears', one of my favourite surrealist artworks.
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