Naked Science Forum
On the Lighter Side => New Theories => Topic started by: techmind on 24/04/2008 00:06:26
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Background
I seem to be considerably above-averagely sensitive to flicker in lights. I don't claim to get awful headaches or anything (although it is distracting), but am reliably aware of -particularly discharge type- lamps flickering and causing the floor or whatever they illuminate to be pulsating. Much more so than other people.
I complain in my up-market local supermarket of specific lights which flicker (ones which are nearing their end-of-life), but nothing seems to get done, and even on one that was especially bad the assistant I pointed it out to obviously did not perceive anything apart from a slightly different colour to the non-flickering lamps. These lamps are getting quite annoying now, one right in the entrance by the flowers, one over the potatoes, several over the bread and cakes counter... :-(
Possible hypotheses
1. Do people with greater sensitivity to flicker have any other differences in their visual perception, eg faster reaction-time? Do they more reliably comprehend momentarily-flashed information (like odd frames inserted "subliminally" into a film - like in Fight Club)? Or more effectively comprehend information from fleeting-glances?
2. Is flicker perception correlated with any colour-perception anomalies?
3. Is flicker perception correlated with deficiencies in other senses, eg poor hearing (in the young)?
4. Do people who are more flicker-sensitive have faster brain "clock speeds"?
ie. Is there any correllation with IQ? [;D]
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The eye processes movement (flicker, for all practical purposes is equivalent to movement) totally separately from static images.
I too am particularly sensitive to changes in images (i.e. movement or flicker). It can be very annoying when people have the TV on when I am trying to ignore it (I find the sound far less distracting that the constant movement in the periphery of my field of view). On the other hand, the sensitivity to movement is very useful in driving, when one can very quickly detect a moving object even against a very complicated and cluttered static background (e.g. if a car moves, even just viewing for a fraction of a second as it passes into view past a gap in something obscuring it, I am instantly aware of it - e.g. when looking into the distance through a curve in the road with high bushes, and a car suddenly flashes past a gap in the bushes, and I become aware it is about to come around the bend).