(urth) (no subject)

[entonio at gmail.com]

António


No dia 2011/11/04, às 20:22, Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com>  
escreveu:
>
>>> I think the furthest I've gone in that direction is to invoke the  
>>> young woman/old lady optical
>>> illusion http://www.qualitytrading.com/illusions/images/ 
>>> oldgirl.gif. If some people can only see
>>> one or the other, I think that is fine. Does it make those who see  
>>> both more clever? (I don't
>>> think so, and I can explain why I don't, if needed)
>
>> Antonio Pedro Marques: I don't know that it's needed, but I don't  
>> think it would hurt.
>
> Okay. For example, the image of the old woman (and the young woman  
> to a lesser extent) is very
> euro-centric. That big long nose and the fur collar might make it  
> more difficult for a person
> living in southeast Asia or west Africa to recognize the figure as  
> an old woman, not being used
> to fur clothing or large, protruding noses.
>
> We all have such cultural and experiential gaps in our knowledge and  
> perception base and I don't
> think they constitute a lack of cleverness. I suppose refusing to  
> acknowledge and accept efforts
> by others to broaden one's view might fall into the category of  
> "lack of cleverness" but I tend
> to classify that more as an issue of stubborness than intelligence.

I can accept that if you substitute personal bias, as built over the  
years in a myriad of experiences, for cultural gap. It probably also  
means it becomes a matter of 'you weren't there' rather than  
stubbornness, ignorance or intelligence, as and such it may be more or  
less impossible to overcome. It also needs the 'the picture is there  
even if the author didn't intend it' bit you mentioned earler.