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Why is the world right side up?

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  • Why is the world right side up?

    So, yeah, the image on our retina is inverted, but image is a funny way of saying "pattern of nerve firings." By the time we form an actual visual percept of the data our eyes receive, we see an image that is oriented in a way that corresponds to a non-inverted world. Why is that the case?

    I'm not really asking why our brain decided to unflip the image on the retina (because, again, it's just a pattern of nerve firings rather than, say, a photograph), but why our brain decided to construct an image that matches the non-inverted image. It doesn't follow necessarily that we would be confused if the world were upside down, because that would have simply been the way we evolved to see, so it wouldn't be confusing.

    I did some digging and found two plausible answers to this question, but I'm interested to see Poly's take.

    The harder question is: how does the brain construct a right side up world? But of course, that's the hard problem of consciousness itself, and I don't really expect an answer.
    Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
    "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La Rochefoucauld

  • #2
    Because Aussies don't rule the world.
    “It is no use trying to 'see through' first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To 'see through' all things is the same as not to see.”

    ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

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    • #3
      To us, it is the BEAST.

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      • #4
        Unfortunately, that article doesn't explain why right side up is what our brain considers normal, and that's what I'm asking.
        Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
        "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La Rochefoucauld

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        • #5
          well, the organisms whose brain didn't have this feature didn't survive long enough to reproduce

          There's the "why" for you.
          To us, it is the BEAST.

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          • #6
            No, it's not, because you have to explain why seeing the world right side up provides a competitive advantage over seeing it some other way.
            Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
            "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La Rochefoucauld

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            • #7
              You need an explanation as to why seeing right side up would be advantageous?

              And my statement answers the "why" perfectly.

              Why is water wet?
              To us, it is the BEAST.

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              • #8
                Yes. Right side up is only natural and easy and comfortable because we evolved that way. There's no particular reason why it is an objectively superior method of seeing the world.
                Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
                "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La Rochefoucauld

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Lorizael View Post
                  Yes. Right side up is only natural and easy and comfortable because we evolved that way. There's no particular reason why it is an objectively superior method of seeing the world.
                  What you see is what you get.

                  Why the sudden apparent lack of understanding about how evolution works?
                  To us, it is the BEAST.

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                  • #10
                    Vision is a highly evolved feature, and much of how the brain processes visual data is clearly advantageous. Our eyes move constantly, but our brain presents us with a nearly constant picture. We have depth perception because our brain produces an image that is a mix of two separate, slightly different images. All of that makes sense. And with all of those, the advantage is clear.

                    But what is advantageous about seeing the world right side up? It is essentially an arbitrary coordinate system choice. What is concretely beneficial about this coordinate system as opposed to others? (Or is it not better or worse than another coordinate choice, and the system evolved this way without the influence of natural selection (randomly)?)
                    Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
                    "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La Rochefoucauld

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                    • #11
                      "Right side up" is only "right side up" because our brain makes it that way.

                      I'm detecting a bit of a circular thought process here with you. However, I don't quite understand what you are getting hung up on.
                      To us, it is the BEAST.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Sava View Post
                        "Right side up" is only "right side up" because our brain makes it that way.
                        That's my point. Why did evolution produce brains that make right side up the way it is and not another way? What is the benefit of us seeing the ground as being "down" and the sky as being "up"?
                        Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
                        "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La Rochefoucauld

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                        • #13
                          Gravity.
                          Pool Manager - Lombardi Handicappers League - An NFL Pick 'Em Pool

                          https://youtu.be/HLNhPMQnWu4

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                          • #14
                            What's the advantage of perceiving things to fall down rather than up?
                            Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
                            "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La Rochefoucauld

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                            • #15
                              None. It's merely a pervasive influence.
                              Pool Manager - Lombardi Handicappers League - An NFL Pick 'Em Pool

                              https://youtu.be/HLNhPMQnWu4

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