A Wondrous World GPS
This is a list of the posts on A Wondrous World by topic. Click on a topic and it will take you to the list of posts under that topic and their descriptions. Some topics have more posts than others, but I am still adding to them.
Main Topics:
What is Real?
Our perceptions of the real world aren’t accurate and reality is different from what we think it is. Section 1 of this series examines how our senses work, how our brain creates what we perceive, how our thought processes can be distorted, and our thinking errors and biases. Section 2 looks at Einstein’s theories of relativity and quantum physics. Section 3 explores the universe and time.
Section 1 Part 1:
Down the Rabbit Hole (Our senses are distorted)
Down the Rabbit Hole: Our brains are locked away inside of our skulls. The only way we have of knowing anything is through our senses. We rely on our senses to give us an accurate view of the world.
Misperceiving Reality: Our senses receive way more data than our brains can handle, so it has to take short cuts, weeding out what might not be useful and summarizing the rest, altering it in the process. This is why magicians and optical illusions can fool us.
Our Perceptions are Distorted: Optical illusions can also show us how our brains distort and enhance our perceptions, even altering our perceptions of our own bodies. Our brains can even trick us into feeling that we have a third hand.
Creating Our Perceptions: Each of our eyes see in just two dimensions, so our brains have to create our depth perception. It does the same with our hearing. In addition, colors, the way we see them, don’t really exist at all. It’s the same with sound. Colors and sounds are created in our brains, and there are many other electromagnetic waves that we can’t detect at all.
Constructing Our World: The information our senses receive is divided up and sent to different parts of our brains for processing. Then it is passed on to higher levels for more processing. Then it’s pieced together and our expectations are added in. Finally it enters our awareness.
Perception is Not Continuous: Our vision seems continuous, but it actually flickers, just as still images are used to create movies. Much of the time we are actually blind, but our brains hide this from us. Athletes have to adjust for this. Different animals have differing flicker rates, with most seeing a lot faster than us. All of this processing takes time, while the world has moved on, so to hide the delay, our brains give us predictions and then modify them after the fact without our being aware of it. We can’t see things in real time.
Getting Creative with Reality: Our brains invent some of what we see to fill in missing data from blind spots and our peripheral vision. The more data that’s missing, the more our brains have to fill in, eventually reaching the point where it’s creating hallucinations, as can be seen in some ailments and the Bloody Mary illusions. Most of our perceptions run on autopilot without us being aware of it.
Section 1 Part 2:
Standing at the Doors of Perception (Variations in our senses)
The Doors of Perception: What exactly is light? And how much can’t we see? How much of the world is imperceptible to us, but can be perceived by other animals? The answers are in this post.
The Sixth Sense and Beyond: We have more than five senses. Scientists list up to 33 of them. And we have sensors in some very unusual places. Here we compare our senses to those of other animals.
In a World of Our Own: Our senses vary between individuals so that each one of us ends up experiencing the world in different ways. There is considerable variation between how people see, smell, taste, hear, and feel. We explore these differences and how our own senses can change depending on the time of day and where we are, which is why airline food often tastes bad. Even your expectations can severely alter how something tastes. Then there are the flavor hallucinogens.
What do You See?: In 2015 a photograph of a dress suddenly made people realize that others see the world differently when people couldn’t agree on what colors the dress was. In addition, there are factors that can change how we see something. And there are a few women who can see thousands more shades of color than the rest of us can. To them, we’re all color blind.
Where’s My Pacifier?: Our perceptions have to be learned and this takes experience. So what is it like to be a baby? The answer is startling. For some people the senses blend together with some very surprising results.
Section 1 Part 3:
We’re All Mad Here (Thinking errors)
We’re All Mad Here: We are all confident in our beliefs and are convinced we are right, yet no one seems to agree and many people have some really far out and beliefs that are obviously wrong. We are constantly bombarded by people and ads trying to convince us of something. We are also influenced by subconscious biases.
Crash Test Dummies: People are poor judges of their own abilities and the ones with the most confidence are usually the worst. Self-deception comes in many forms.
A Carnival House of Mirrors: Here we look at delusions and the fallibility of intuitions, and what scientists do to get things right.
Thinking Errors: Students are not taught how to think or analyze an argument. This enables thinking errors to flourish, making people susceptible to political lies, propaganda, and opinions presented as if they’re facts, with harmful consequences.
Mind Craft: We all have distorted and false memories because of the way our memories work. They can be distorted when they are made or altered later on. This post explains how all this happens, how false memories can be created, and why eyewitness testimony is particularly bad.
Bright Summer Days: People’s beliefs are often heavily influenced by nostalgia—unrealistic memories and impressions of the past. Here we find out how this happens and why it can be harmful.
Myths and Legends: Mistaken beliefs can lead people into mazes of false ideas, including strange religions and conspiracy theories. This post looks at how some common beliefs are wrong and how people often end up believing what they want to believe.
Jesus on Toast: Our brains are attuned to recognizing faces. So much so that we end up seeing faces everywhere, when they aren’t actually there. Here are some interesting illusions that have fooled people, and why we see them. How seeing patterns that don’t exist makes people susceptible to false conspiracy theories. We also look at how to make pigeons superstitious and how this affects gamblers. And check out the photograph of Big Foot on mars.
Roll of the Dice: People are poor at understanding randomness and probabilities, which causes problems in assessing risks. As a result, assessments of some dangers are blown way out of proportion, while very serious dangers are glossed over. This affects our evaluation of the risks of air travel, terrorism, smoking, sharks, and vaccinations. This leads us to the gambler’s fallacy.
Life’s a Variable-Sum Game: There are essentially two basic types of interactions people have, whether in negotiations, business competition, or in topics like immigration. Most people wrongly see these as being win-or-lose situations, but most of the time that’s not the case, and often both sides can win, and in ways you wouldn’t expect.
Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right...but Three Lefts Do: Here we compare two methods of thinking—scientific and adversarial, like is found in the court system. It also has to do with whether everything is in black and white, or whether there are shades of gray. This affects our government, since most of our leaders were trained to be adversarial.
So What’s Real?: With all of the issues discussed so far, how can we tell what is real? Scientists are divided. Some lean towards realism and others antirealism. There are several types of each of these. There is also social reality, which stems from our culture. Then there are the social constructionists. Somewhere in the middle is instrumentalism. We take a quick look at all of these.
Section 2 Part 1:
Extremely Far Down the Rabbit Hole (Einstein’s relativity)
Extremely Far Down the Rabbit Hole: Physics is extremely strange, but this is because the experimental evidence is extremely strange. It is completely contrary how we perceive and think of the world. Yet all of this makes it very fascinating.
Stepping Way Outside the Box: The basis of Einstein’s special theory of relativity and its unusual implications are presented, which, among other things, places a speed limit on light and makes sizes and time relative. It can also means events can happen in a different order depending on your perspective.
The Fastest Thing in Universe: Since the speed of light is constant, this raises some interesting questions. What if you’re traveling close to the speed of light and turn on a light, what happens? Why can’t we go faster than light speed? How can galaxies move apart faster than the speed of light?
More to come...
Along the Shore
This series looks at life along the coast, along with ocean and the creatures living it, highlighting what these organisms are actually like, how they behave, interact with each other, and how they live their lives. Surprisingly, they are much more advanced and intelligent than you would think.
Along the Shore: An introduction to living on the coast and what makes it so amazing, fascinating, and magical.
Safe Harbors: Harbors are places where the people of the sea and their ships gather. It’s their gateway to their homes, yet many greatly prefer the freedom of the open ocean.
A Lonely Light in Darkness: Lighthouses both beckon ships and warn them away. They also experience a wide range of weather, but have to keep working in order to save people’s lives. We also look at what it was like to live in Cape Cod’s lighthouse. To them, it's their gateway to the world.
Shipwrecks and Wreckers: Working on the ocean is a dangerous profession and shipwrecks are one of the reasons. Looking at their history, we find tales of criminals who tried causing shipwrecks so they could loot the wreckage.
Dangerous Seas: The sea has many unknown dangers, including gigantic rogue waves and bubbling gasses. Many ships without crews are found, with few clues as to what happened.
Ghost Ships: Stories of phantom ships like the Flying Dutchman abound, along with tales of mermaids luring sailors to their doom.
Thousands of Rubber Ducks: Because of a shipping accident, thousands of rubber ducks are drifting around the world on its various currents and gyres, along with other interesting flotsam and jetsam.
The Great Oregon Whale Explosion: What do you do with a smelly whale that washes ashore? Oregon officials decided to blow it up. That was a mistake, but this humorous story resulted in people celebrating Exploding Whale Day.
Sophisticated Societies: Dolphins are one of the most intelligent animals in the ocean and they have very advanced societies. They are much more similar to us that you would expect. They have cultures, family dynamics, individual personalities, and they each have their own names.
Sponges on the Move: Sponges are simple creatures that can’t move. At least that’s what most people think. They actually do move and some even migrate. Also, see a video of a sponge sneezing.
Worm with Many Butts: A worm that lives in sponges has a body that branches out to follow the sponges’ passageways. It eventually splits off so many times that it’s all over the place. Strangely, it only has one head, but perhaps more than a thousand butts. But that’s not the weirdest thing...
Those Teenage Years All Over Again: Caterpillars transform into butterflies, but some sea creatures go through many transformations. Some can revert to earlier stages, making them potentially immortal.
Going to War: Sea anemones get along with their clones, but not with any others. When two groups meet, they go to war, fighting daily battles along the no-man’s-land between them. And it can get brutal.
Shark Attack: People kill a tremendous amount of sharks, partly because of the movie Jaws, but that was fiction, misrepresenting these animals. Here we look behind the myth and hear about some interesting face-to-face encounters with sharks.
The Smartest Bivalve in the World: While clams tend to be rather sedentary, scallops are active in comparison and are often on the move. They are also quite smart. And they can look at you with their bright blue eyes.
Slime Fish: There’s a fish that has an interesting form of defense—slime. And it can produce massive quantities of it—more than enough to ruin a predator’s day.
Clever Fish: Fish are a lot smarter than we give them credit for, and they do have very good memories. Each fish also has its own personality and some can recognize themselves in mirrors and photographs.
Snails that Harpoon Fish: Some cone snails are extremely venomous and they fire their deadly harpoons at predators and prey. They can kill people within hours if they’re not treated.
Psychedelic Slugs: Nudibranchs are among the most brightly colored animals in the sea, with a stunning variety of shapes. They also have the unusual ability to absorb another creature’s weapons and use them themselves. And some of these slugs are solar powered.
Megalodon: A look at the world’s largest shark, thought to equal twenty-five great white sharks. With teeth the size of a man’s outstretched hand, it was an impressive predator.
Attack of the Bobbit Worm: The horrifying bobbit worm is like something out of a nightmare, armed with pincers so fast they can cut a fish in half. Fish, on the other hand, have a peculiar way of dealing with it.
What’s Happening to My Head: While teens go through some transformations, those are nothing compared to what flatfish have to deal with when their skulls start rearranging themselves, moving their faces from one side to the other.
The Joy of Living: Can fish experience the joy of living? Do they feel emotions? Evidence seems to indicate that they can. It looks like they can also suffer from depression.
More to come...
Animals
So far this section focuses on how animals perceive the world.
What’s It Like to Be a Cat?What’s It Like to Be a Cat?: This post explores how cats see and experience the world. And it looks at why cats and dogs are color blind and why we can see colors.
What’s It Like to Be a Rat?: Rats have a very different view of the world. Here we try understand what their lives are like by exploring their senses and how they communicate with each other.
Sense of Smell in Dogs and Cats: Cats and dogs have noses that are much more sensitive than ours—amazingly more. Dogs can locate 2,700-year-old graves, while one cat could detect when patients were about to die. And some people can smell and identify when someone has a certain disease. We also look at what animals can’t taste and how catnip affects cats.
Spidey Senses: Spiders have their own unusual set of senses. They can hear you talking. I also explain how they use their eight eyes. They can also do some very interesting things with their webs.
Sense and Sensibilities: Every organism needs to sense its environment. We start by looking at how bacteria and single-celled organisms do it, and also how they communicate amongst themselves. Our own cells have similar abilities. There is also a single-celled organism that has an eye like ours. We also look at some unusual senses in various animals, including how sponges are able to sneeze.
They Have No Eyes But Sight: You don’t need eyes to be able to see. Many creatures without eyes are able to do it. Here we look at how they do it and what they’re able to see having no eyes. Then there are creatures that have eyes, such as scallops and jellyfish, that you wouldn’t think would have any. Also, some animals that lack ears can still hear.
How Far Can a Dung Beetle See?: This is a trick question and here we explore why. The answer applies to our vision as well. This leads to a look at the many different types of eyes and how they evolved. Also, there’s why an eagle’s eye can see so much farther than ours and what sports figures do to improve their eyesight. Finally we look at some very unusual sense organs.
Tastes like Chicken: Ever wonder what dinosaurs tasted like? Or how about the chicken and egg problem? Find out the answers here, along with how taxonomy works, and more about chickens.
More to come...
Humans
A new section that’s all about us.
You are Older than Dirt: The materials we are made of have been around for a very long time. Some of it is billions of years old. This post takes a closer look at this and how the bits of you were created, along with how you and your components change during your lifetime. We also look at where your elements were during all that time.
More to come...
Universe
A new section on the universe.
What Does the Universe Smell Like?: Our universe is a smelly place. Here is what outer space, interstellar space, the moon, and the planets smell, taste, and sound like, as well as what color the universe is and what it’s made from. It’s a sensory trip around the cosmos.
More to come...
Sumo
Some notes about sumo and why it’s the world’s ultimate sport.
The Warrior Spirit and the Magic of Sumo: Sumo is an amazing sport and one that’s completely misunderstood in America and much of the world. This post provides an overview of the sport, along with my initial impressions of it and why I came to realize that it is the ultimate sport.
Sumo is Not Wrestling: Sumo isn’t wrestling, it’s a martial art. The so-called wrestlers are actually the last of the samurai and they follow completely different traditions from wrestling and other grappling sports, with the differences between them being quite stark, as it originated within the Shinto religion before becoming a form of military combat training, yet sumo operates under a strict set of rules that mirror those of Japanese society. Also while a rikishi’s size is a factor, there are many other factors that determine bouts. There are no weight categories and often the small guys win. We also look at how they dress.
A Brief Note on Sumo Techniques: One fascinating thing about sumo is the huge variety of techniques that they use and how these interact in both offense and defense. The bouts are rapid and short, so there are a lot of things a rikishi has to be aware of and at lightning speed, while trying to do several things at once.
Gentle Warriors: Sumo is an aggressive and dangerous sport, but it’s not about fighting. It’s highly controlled by strict rules. It’s a sport with dignity, modesty, and humility, putting it on a higher plain than any other sport. It is a mirror of Japanese society.
No Celebrating Allowed: Because of sumo’s emphasis on dignity, modesty, and humility, celebrating after a win is considered rude and unseemly, and is therefore not allowed. This is the opposite of most Western sports. This post explains why.
Sumo with Babies: You wouldn’t think sumo and babies go together, but during the Sumo of Tears Festival, they do. Here babies demonstrate their health and fitness through their ability to cry.
More to come...
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