this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2023
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Hey! I have been looking for a source on this. Would you have one?
Here's one about vision:
https://theconversation.com/everything-we-see-is-a-mash-up-of-the-brains-last-15-seconds-of-visual-information-175577
Although for me the simplest demonstration is to touch your toe with your finger. Sensory nerves travel something like 100 meters per second:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_conduction_velocity
This means that you should feel touch from your finger before your toe, since it has less far to travel.
What actually happens is that you feel both your toe and finger touching at the same time. Your brain buffers the signals and plays them back at the same time, giving the illusion of simultaneity.
So yes, not only are you experiencing the world slightly behind, but it's in differing amounts of delay.
You can search for "brain buffer simultaneity" to find tons of research on this topic.
That is fun! Thank you
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_light
That is one small fraction, but fair enough.
Also this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_conduction_velocity
Ah but that is just nerve sensor input time, it does not include the time spent processing inputs into an awareness (or however one wants to describe our internal model.) Perceptual lag is a subject of a lot of unfortunately paywalled research.
The lag is not dissolved by relativity. Reality, as many athletes know, will let you know when your perceptual lag is a critical shortcoming.
I suspect perceptual lag is the term. I had heard it from a memory standpoint, I think. Something like:
Our minds operate on our memories, our memories are always beind reality. Our interpretation affects our memories, or at least the recall, and are always reacting to the past.
Perceptual lag seems more to the point. (Long thing included in case someone else happens to have another idea.)
Cheers
If you’re looking for a philosophical viewpoint on this, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” will fuck with your head.