Your Reality Might Not be Mine: Sensory Perception and Empathy | Poppy Crum | TEDxLA

Summary

The speaker explores the concept of perception and empathy, using the 'dress color debate' as a metaphor for how differently we see the world. They delve into personal experiences with sensory differences, such as absolute pitch and ocular migraines, and relate these to the works of artists like Francis Bacon and Monet, who may have had unique visual experiences. The talk emphasizes the importance of understanding and embracing these differences to foster empathy, improve technology, and enhance human interaction.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The human brain perceives the physical world differently, leading to varied experiences such as the 'dress color debate' where people saw the same dress in different colors.
• 🔍 Perception is influenced by a combination of factors including life experiences, demographics, and environmental conditions, which affect how our brains integrate information about luminance, shadow, and color.
• 🎨 Artistic representations, such as Francis Bacon's distorted figures, can reflect the artist's unique sensory experiences, suggesting a connection between personal perception and creative expression.
• 👂 The concept of 'absolute pitch' illustrates how some individuals perceive sound differently, affecting their interaction with the auditory world.
• 👁️‍🗨️ Conditions like macular degeneration and ocular migraines can alter visual experiences, providing insights into the challenges faced by those with vision impairments.
• 🤲 Empathy plays a crucial role in understanding and accepting the differences in perception, which can lead to more humanized interactions and technological innovations.
• 👁️‍🗨️ The power of perspective is demonstrated by how changing one's gaze or focus can alter the perception of visual phenomena, such as the direction of moving bubbles.
• 🧠 Neuroplasticity allows our brains to adapt to our environments by emphasizing the sensory information that is most relevant, leading to cultural and contextual differences in perception.
• 🎭 Immersive technologies like augmented and virtual reality have the potential to bridge the empathy gap by providing authentic sensory experiences.
• 🤝 The importance of sharing vulnerabilities to foster empathy is highlighted, as it can lead to better understanding and improved interactions with others.
• 🛠️ Design and technological innovations can be influenced by empathetic experiences, as seen in the example of arthritis simulation gloves that changed designers' approach to problem-solving.

Q & A

What significant event in February 2015 is referred to as having a divisive impact on the world?

The significant event referred to is the viral 'The Dress' phenomenon, where people saw the colors of a dress differently, either as white and gold or blue and black, challenging the concept of objective truth.

What does the speaker suggest is the core issue behind the perception of the dress colors?

The core issue is not the actual color of the dress but how our brains perceive the color in the image, integrating information about luminance, shadow, and color to make probabilistic decisions based on slightly different information.

What is the term for the ability to hear individual notes of a song or identify the pitch of everyday sounds?

The term is 'absolute pitch,' which is a rare auditory phenomenon where a person can identify or recreate a musical note without a reference tone.

How does the speaker's experience with ocular migraines relate to her mother's experience with macular degeneration?

Both conditions result in a blind spot in central vision. The speaker's ocular migraines temporarily give her a similar experience to her mother's macular degeneration, allowing her to empathize with her mother's condition.

What is the condition that causes people to see faces with features that appear to move?

The condition is called facial dysmorphia, where the features of a face appear to move, creating an illusion of distorted figures.

How did the speaker's understanding of her mother's vision change her approach to innovation?

The speaker began to build contraptions that magnified what her mother was looking away from, fundamentally changing her perspective on the types of interactions and innovations that could help her mother's life.

What is the significance of the painting style of Francis Bacon in relation to his likely condition of facial dysmorphia?

Francis Bacon's abstract and distorted figures in his paintings may represent how he truly saw the world due to his likely condition of facial dysmorphia.

What hypothesis does the speaker have about Monet's vision while painting 'Water Lilies'?

The speaker hypothesizes that Monet might not have been able to make use of binocular cues due to his cataracts, and thus relied more on monocular cues, which could explain the 3D effect when viewing the painting with one eye.

How does the experience of watching fire content on a screen affect people's physiological responses?

People's bodies react as if the fire was real, expelling heat and showing changes in facial temperature, demonstrating a natural sensory response to visual stimuli.

What is the main message the speaker is conveying about the importance of empathy and perspective in understanding others?

The speaker emphasizes the power of gaining empathy for others' experiences and the importance of recognizing and accepting the differences in perception, which can lead to changes in behavior, technology, and assumptions.

Why is it challenging for people to develop empathy for others' experiences?

Developing empathy requires making oneself vulnerable, which people often resist. Additionally, our environments and personal experiences shape our perspectives, making it difficult to fully understand another person's reality.