My view of perception as farming out to the external objects has a clear advantage over receptive views of perception. When we perceive a chair we not only collect but farm out visual aspects to the chair itself, and not only visual characteristics but tactile audible, etc. ones, too: noticing a chair means attributing “to-be-sat-uponness”—which…

In the so-called Ames Room two twins move about and seem to the viewer to grow and shrink as they move. In certain sweet spots they appear of the same size (as in reality they are). The Ames Room is presented in the literature as a problem for theories of perception. Sometimes the effects on…

I watch a typical sixties video of Peter Green singing a tune of Fleetwood Mac. We know he is the original singer, and we realise he is lip-syncing his own singing. What we get is a forgery. How? We see how he tries desperately to get his lip movements in synch with the song. His…

Wiener Aktionism, Biology and Ethics Biology prescribes that humans strive for survival. It simply makes no sense for a person sustaining a life of his own, to do things which will threaten that project—ultimately it is the support of all his other projects, and dying marks the end of all of them. Ethics presupposes biology,…

The status of medicine has never been as confusing. We all realise it is important to know how the body works, and that it works to its full potential for someone to lead a fulfilling life (whatever that consists in)? Similarly I should say cognitive neuroscience will guard the neural necessities of brain activity. So…

A new kind of beauty. Thanks to Marjolein Efting-Dijkstra for pointing me to this photographer’s impression of the kind of beauty that we are momentarily creating through cosmetic surgery. For those who care to know, I am presently finishing a book that argues that these samples are exactly not samples of beautiful people. That said,…

The discovery of mirror-neurones might help us remove certain issues from our approach to facial expression. They might, for instance, have helped Darwin: “There are other actions which are commonly performed under certain circumstances, independently of habit, and which seem to be due to imitation or some sort of sympathy. Thus persons cutting anything with…

…Dreams have psychological reality, but not by intentional design… Dreams have psychological reality, but not like our behaviour has, not by intentional design. If dreams can be characterised as a neuronal storm in our brains, then what comes along during those storms will be remnant of previous events, or rather: it will cause the mind…

A dear friend, an artist herself, made me realise that television is far more extreme than art is, with regard to crossing moral limitations. She pointed me to the case of Jade Goody who, terminally ill, sold her dying to network stations and journals, spending the money earned on her two surviving sons. I have…

Kristian von Hornsleth, Danish artist, devised The Hornsleth Village Project Uganda: “The Hornsleth Village Project Uganda saw every individual in a village change their name to Hornsleth, in a simple exchange for a pig or a goat, and outrage ensued.” …donating sheep to poor Africans on condition that they assume your name… I was told…