How the Brain Processes Information
The human brain doesn’t merely register sounds and sights; instead, it actively constructs our perception, filling in gaps with what seems most plausible. This leads to instances where we perceive things that aren’t actually present, such as discerning shapes within abstract pictures.
The Brain as a Researcher
Scientists liken the brain’s operations to a research methodology: it generates hypotheses, tests them, and then refines those predictions based on incoming sensory data. Every sensation is inevitably filtered through prior experience. For instance, if a sudden light flashes in the night sky, the brain is inclined to assume it’s an airplane or a drone, utilizing established schemas.
Visual Illusions
This principle of completion is also evident in visual perception. In the well-known Kanizsa illusion, observers perceive a white triangle even though its edges are not physically drawn. The brain fabricates the missing lines to construct a unified figure. Notably, the visual cortex areas respond as if the triangle were genuinely there.
Predicting Sensations
Comparable mechanisms function across other senses as well. For example, an individual might feel their arm moving when it is actually stationary—the brain anticipates this action beforehand and substitutes reality with its prediction.
The Internal World Model
Perception can be understood as a fluid model of reality that the brain continuously revises. It seeks to eliminate ambiguity by populating voids with familiar components, which renders our perception dynamic yet susceptible to illusions, according to N + 1.
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