Curious, hmm?
Moon Illusion
These two images of the Moon are the same size. We perceive them as different because of their contexts, what's around each one. The top Moon, seemingly beyond the horizon, appears larger than the lower Moon which appears to be located close to our feet. This is also known as the Ponzo Illusion after the Italian psychologist who described it in 1913.
Curiosity sometimes pays off. You've just tasted a little bit of what it can be like to take part in one of our Events - there's a seemingly ordinary or innocuous element in the world that might, in fact, be discovered to be a portal to something unanticipated. Sometimes you'll need a port key to get through.
There are several of these peppered around this website - see if you can find them!
Consider how each of these "curiousities" might apply to your group.
here something to whet your appetite ...
Stare at the cross in the centre, trying not to move your eyes (you can blink).
What happens?
Then keep staring some more. What happens next?
See below for some astounding information about this illusion.
a thought is not a fact
This idea is central to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, though it has a long history back through Shakespeare (Hamlet 2ii: "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so") to Epictetus ("People are disturbed not by events but by their opinion about events").
How to fit a square peg
in a round hole?
Our Events help us be aware of the assumptions we make. Having differing perspectives can be enlightening or challenging, spur us on or stop us in our tracks, contradictory and undermining or complementary and revolutionary.
I feel a BLOG item coming on. In the meantime, have a look at Gilbert Ryle's work on category mistakes. If you want even more on Ryle, the excellent Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a great, academic place to start. And just in case that's all a bit too serious, here's a 1 minute clip on the mistakes Ryle thinks we make in language.
[PS In the illusion above, there is never a green spot on the screen, the pink spots don't disappear and there is never any movement!! All there is 'out there' in the real world is a bunch of pink spots flashing on and off - the rest is our eyes and brain doing stuff! Here's a more detailed explanation and you can even make your own.]