[gsmollin]

I failed in tunneling my fist through a couple of pieces of lumber.

[chimera]

quote:Originally posted by gsmollin

I failed in tunneling my fist through a couple of pieces of lumber.

Yeah, those collapsing wavefronts can really hurt the knuckles, eh? []

[IAmAI]

I once wondered whether 'now' exists. Consider our perception of ‘now’... In order to perceive anything and take action on (process) anything, we have sense the universe with our senses and store it in our brain. Just like fossils, our brain contains a representation of the past. Therefore, it could be considered that any experience is the past (though minutely so).

[Sandwalker]

Hey

'Time' comes in 'Any colour you like'

Its all 'Us and them' 'On the run' in 'The great gig in the sky'

So don't 'Speak to me' I'm 'Brain damage'd


Sorry could not get 'Money' or 'Eclipse' to fit in.

[]So if you can 'Eclipse' this you can have the 'Money'!

[gsmollin]

quote:Originally posted by IAmAI

I once wondered whether 'now' exists. Consider our perception of ‘now’... In order to perceive anything and take action on (process) anything, we have sense the universe with our senses and store it in our brain. Just like fossils, our brain contains a representation of the past. Therefore, it could be considered that any experience is the past (though minutely so).

Well, yes, and this is true even if our reaction time were zero, because light has a finite speed. Even across a table, we see each other as we were a few nanoseconds ago. We see the moon as it was 2 seconds ago, etc. This is the whole observer-dependence bit in special relativity. Nevertheless, once the light-cone has past you, it recedes at c, and cannot be recalled, except as a "fossil" memory.

[cheryl j]

I won't even touch the physics involved with time and "now". Its beyond me. But even in biology, there is not exactly an agreed upon "now." Some brain scan experiments show that when a person performs an action, the persons brain has already sent the message to do it before the person is consciously aware of having even made a decision. ( This really creeps me out, as it sort of messes with the idea of free will as well)

Another odd biological thing related to "now" has to do with perception in tall and short people. The nervous system has to correlate sensation in time. If I touch your cheek and foot simultaniously, your brain needs to register both sensations as happening at the same time, even though it takes longer for the nerve impulse to get from your foot to your brain than from your cheek to your brain. There is a slight delay in the nerve transmission from the cheek, so they arrive at the same time. This delay is less in shorter people than in tall ones, and in this respect shorter athletes have an advantage over taller ones, since they perceive events as happening slightly sooner than tall people. Since nerve transmissions travel pretty fast, you wouldnt think the difference would be that significant, but it as much as a tenth of a second, which if you are judging the speed and position of a fast ball, might matter.

[neilep (OP)]

I won't even touch the physics involved with time and "now". Its beyond me. But even in biology, there is not exactly an agreed upon "now." Some brain scan experiments show that when a person performs of action, the persons brain has already sent the message to do it before the person is consciously aware of having even made a decision. ( This really creeps me out, as it sort of messes with the idea of free will as well)

Another odd biological thing related to "now" has to do with perception in tall and short people. The nervous system has to correlate sensation in time. If I touch your cheek and foot simultaniously, your brain needs to register both sensations as happening at the same time, even though it takes longer for the nerve impulse to get from your foot to your brain than from your cheek to your brain. There is a slight delay in the nerve transmission from the cheek, so they arrive at the same time. This delay is less in shorter people than in tall ones, and in this respect shorter athletes have an advantage over taller ones, since they perceive events as happening slightly sooner than tall people. Since nerve transmissions travel pretty fast, you wouldnt think the difference would be that significant, but it as much as a tenth of a second, which if you are judging the speed and position of a fast ball, might matter.

Woo !!..Thank ewe Cheryl (and welcome to the site  []) for this wonderful informative post. That is fascinating regarding the cheek and foot !..So..the brain purposely delays the reaction from the cheek to correspond in time with the reaction from the foot !......

So, if just the cheek is touched the reaction is quicker !...amazing !

[cheryl j]

If I understood the article I read correctly, I dont think the nerve transmission is faster if just the cheek is touched. I think no transmission is allowed to go any faster than if it had originated from the farthest point from the brain, so in tall people it will always be a little slower.