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Our useful inability to see reality

E
nlightenment thinker John Locke deafness with compensation. Lotto men-

SUREN MANVELYAN
(16321704) held that the human tions, for instance, the late Ben Underwood,
mind is a blank slate at birth, ready to a blind US teenager who used echolocation,
be written over by sensory experience. Over clicking his tongue and using the echoes of
the centuries, this idea of information flow- the sound to navigate, and even to cycle and
ing outside in has lost much of its appeal, play sports.
with experiments making it clear that per- Lottos idea that perception includes a
ception involves dozens of mechanisms, multitude of assumptions, built-in or learnt,
actively shaping stimuli rather than passively allows him to take on board a range of sub-
receiving them. jects not usually associated with the topic.
In Deviate, neuroscientist Beau Lotto For instance, confirmation bias notic-
presents a complete reversal of the Lockean ing evidence that affirms ones world view,
stance. To him, it is the human mind that but disregarding contradictory evidence
imposes meaning on our perceptions: the is conventionally taken to be a cogni-
true blank slate is the outside world. Even tive phenomenon. Like hindsight bias, it
more provocative is his argument that we contributes to preconceived ideas that keep
operate with versions of reality that have us locked into a narrow perspective on our
literally nothing to do with what is out personal and social reality. This is why the
there in a physical sense. In an entertain- book is called Deviate, and Lotto has inspir-
ing series of analyses, demonstrations and ing things to say about discoveries and acts
reflections, he drives home the point that of creativity resulting from deviant ways of
perception, broadly taken, is not what our thinking.
eyes and ears tell us; it is what our brain Deciphering the Rosetta Stone is a case
makes us see and hear. in point. Comparing the stones trilingual
This is a radical philosophy of percep- scripts in the nineteenth century, Jean-
tion. It raises an intriguing question about Franois Champollion unlocked the code
the evolutionary history of our perceptual of Egyptian hieroglyphs by hypothesizing
apparatus. If evolution is truly the most that they were not symbolic characters rep-
rigorous, exhaustive research and develop- resenting concepts, but instead referred to
ment and product-testing process on our Seeing isnt necessarily believing. the phonetic sounds of a spoken language
planet, as Lotto has it, then to survive at (A.Robinson Nature 483, 2728; 2012).
all, surely our senses must have given our points out that for With Lottos pervasive evolutionary per-
ancestors and us a trustworthy representa- each neural connec- spective comes a lot of fight or flight, adapt
tion of reality? Lottos answer is an emphatic tion that projects or die, and escaping from predators. It leaves
no: We dont see reality we only see what information from the reader wondering whether there could
was useful to see in the past. Much like a the eyes to the pri- be any perception aesthetic pleasures such
London Underground map, our perceptual mary visual fields in as listening to music not in the service of
brain doesnt offer an accurate spatial rep- the occipital lobes at survival. At times, Lotto seems to overstate
resentation; rather, it helps us to navigate in the back of the brain, his case, for instance when he writes that Igor
a safe and efficient way. there are ten con- Stravinsky reshaped the cortex of culture
So, visual illusions such as the Moon nections back from Deviate: The by composing the ballet The Rite of Spring.
looking larger when it is closer to the hori- the brain to the eyes. Science of Seeing Towards the end, Deviate begins to take
zon arent really illusions if our perceptual Moreover, the neural Differently an unusually broad view of perception,
apparatus didnt evolve to see actual spatial networks that make BEAU LOTTO including discussions of the Ebola epidemic,
relationships. Tellingly, machines devised to sense of what we see Hachette: 2017. religion, the financial crisis, the salutary
recognize visual patterns are also suscepti- are fed by a relatively effects of living abroad, government policy
ble to illusions when they are programmed small stream of information from the eyes. towards universities and the need for new
in a way that emulates the structure of the About 90% comes from other parts of concepts of leadership. Lottos neuroscience
human brain. the brain, allowing us to recognize faces, tends to the expansive. Still, his discussions
Deviate is not your conventional hand- identify danger or read a sentence such as are balanced by many astute observations,
book of perception. It has little on the Wataroureain? despite the omitted such as: Our species has been so successful
anatomy of the eye or mechanisms of letters. That you probably didnt read that not in spite of our inability to see reality but
hearing. The senses as What are you dreaming? is the result because of it.
are like the keyboard NATURE.COM of priming your attention to a context of
of a computer: they For more on science reading. What enters the eye is often an Douwe Draaisma is professor of the history
provide access, and in culture see: insignificant part of the story. of psychology at the University of Groningen
the real job is done nature.com/ These networks provide the brain with in the Netherlands.
e l s e w h e r e . L o t t o booksandarts flexibility and in cases of blindness or e-mail: [email protected]

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