Blind sight; the brain working with information without conscious representation/vision.
Quote;
''Clearly, despite his blindness, Daniel’s healthy eyes were still watching the world and passing the information to his unconscious, which was guiding his behaviour. Publishing a report in 1974, Weiskrantz coined the term “blindsight” to describe this fractured conscious state. “Some were sceptical, of course, but it has held its own and become an accepted phenomenon,” Weiskrantz says today. And over the following decades, the condition has come to answer some fundamental questions about the human mind.
Just how many of our decisions occur out of our awareness, even when we have the illusion of control? And if the conscious mind is not needed to direct our actions, then what is its purpose? Why did we evolve this vivid internal life, if we are almost “zombies” acting without awareness?
“These cases open a window into parts of the brain that are normally not visible,” says Marco Tamietto, who is based at Tilburg University. “They offer a view to functions that are difficult to observe – that are normally silent.”
Clearly, despite his blindness, Daniel’s healthy eyes were still watching the world and passing the information to his unconscious, which was guiding his behaviour. Publishing a report in 1974, Weiskrantz coined the term “blindsight” to describe this fractured conscious state. “Some were sceptical, of course, but it has held its own and become an accepted phenomenon,” Weiskrantz says today. And over the following decades, the condition has come to answer some fundamental questions about the human mind.
''Just how many of our decisions occur out of our awareness, even when we have the illusion of control? And if the conscious mind is not needed to direct our actions, then what is its purpose? Why did we evolve this vivid internal life, if we are almost “zombies” acting without awareness?
“These cases open a window into parts of the brain that are normally not visible,” says Marco Tamietto, who is based at Tilburg University. “They offer a view to functions that are difficult to observe – that are normally silent.”
''In 2008, Tamietto and Weiskrantz’s team put another blindsight patient through the most gruelling test yet. Unlike Daniel, he was blind across the whole of his visual field, and normally walked with a white cane. But the team took away his cane and then loaded a corridor with furniture that might potentially trip him up, before asking him make his way to the other side. “Despite saying he wasn’t able to see, we saw him shooting by on his very first attempt,” says Tamietto. ''
