give an explanation of why the brain fills in "missing" pieces, makes it look like shapes exist where they don't, allows us to read completly misspelled words or make pictures out of just a few lines?
2007-05-24 11:06:54 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
The brain seems designed to find patterns. One theory has to do with spotting predators in the wild. Animals like leopards are camouflaged but humans are good at spotting patterns. Perhaps that gave us a biological edge.
That same pattern seeking behavior can go wrong though. That's why eyewitness accounts of events can sometimes be wildly wrong, when someone sees just one part of an event and their brain fills in the rest.
It's fascinating stuff.
2007-05-24 11:13:12 · answer #1 · answered by rbanzai 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Evolution
People who 'guessed' that the indistinct 'patch of orange' in the bush was a Sabre Tooth Tiger didn't get eaten so often ... and those that could predict the direction of a forest fire from seeing the smoke also lasted longer ... so we evolved with some very good pattern recognition and prediction brains ..
(on the other hand, maybe it's all GOD's work :-) :-) )
2007-05-28 07:18:03 · answer #2 · answered by Steve B 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
not arsed.
2007-05-24 11:20:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋