R E F L E C T I O N S

Another example of the blurring of reality is ESP.  Believers in ESP claim to have the ability to obtain information without using the physical senses. Although this ability has never been proven by science; most people have experienced hunches, gut feelings, premonitions, intuition or other unexplainable ways of “just knowing” something. Again, this only adds to the uncertainty of reality.   Besides these false impressions our senses disregard much of “reality”.  Dogs can hear ultrasound.  This is how 'silent' dog whistles work. Dogs have a nose approximately a hundred thousand to a million times more sensitive than a human's.   Some bats use ultrasound for echo location while in flight. Dolphins have their own sonar based sense. Bees are sensitive to the polarization of light. Back to optical illusions: There is no actual movement in the above design. This illusion was developed by Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka at the Departm...

Here are a few optical illusions that lead up to the brink of what is real and what is only in our minds. Even though we know   it is only an illusion we still see it as real. This was discovered by the American psychologist Joseph Jastrow in 1889. The two figures are identical, although one appears to be larger. The Kanizsa triangle was first described by the Italian psychologist Gaetano Kanizsa in 1955.  It is an example of a "phantom edge phenomena". In this figure we "see" a black triangle but it does not actually exist.

I'm not sure where I saw it but several years ago I read an  article about making a list of 5 things to be grateful for each day.  This was supposed to improve my mood and lead to happiness. It only made sense. If something bad happens you'll know it.  It will grab your attention like a headache.  The things we should be grateful for can easily be ignored.  That's why an effort to be grateful is important for happiness. For the longest time I've been doing this and it has helped.  I take an index card and list 5 things I'm grateful for each day until the end of the week.  Then I read over the list and discard the index card.  This encourages me to look for the good things in life each day. However, lately I find myself putting down the same things over and over.  It becomes a routine, just another chore at the end of the day.  If I can't find anything to put down I skip it until the next day. ...

Last night I watched 3 movies on TV.  The black and white Wolf-man and Invisible Man.  I don't remember much about the third movie.  It was a contemporary film with a weak plot and unclear ending. Even without modern special effects, the story line kept up the excitement.  Sometimes the acting and music were a bit overdone but this only served to make the films more endearing. Anyway, that's what I did last night. Here are the trailers for the movies: