10 Examples of How the senses deceive us

The five senses (smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing) are the mechanisms by which the living beings they know and relate to the outside world. The information from the environment enters through the senses and travels through the neurons until it reaches the brain, which is in charge of processing the data.

In the human being there are five senses:

The senses of the human being they are limited and, for this reason, they can be misleading. This is mainly due to a perception error (which is the interpretation that the brain makes of the stimuli perceived by the senses). The senses and perception can deceive the subject due to internal or external causes.

An example of how the senses deceive by an external cause is the cinema, where the principle of the illusion of movement so that the human eye perceives movement and not the autonomous images that are projected on sequence.

An example of how the senses deceive due to an internal cause occurs with the consumption of substances, how can they be the alcohol or drugs, which alter spatial perception.

The laws of Gestalt

Gestalt laws were established by Max Wertheimer, supporter of the German school of Gestalt psychology, and are 13 rules that explain the origin of perceptions (mainly visual).

These laws are:

Examples of how the senses deceive us

By external agents

1. When a sequence of drawings is made and then the passage from one drawing to the other is accelerated (these being similar drawings, but with some difference), there is the feeling that the image has movement. This is the beginning of cinematography.
2. If an individual closes his eyes, covers his ears and touches a surface and feels the vibrations of something, he will not be able to perceive whether it is rhythmic music, a noise that is produced by a machine in operation or by a stampede.
3. When a pencil is inserted into a glass of water, refraction causes the human eye to see a distorted image of the pencil, which appears split.
4. When a car goes on a road and the ambient temperature is high, it is possible to glimpse a "mirage", because water is visible on the road but, as the vehicle approaches that place, the water disappears.
5. Optical illusions that deceive the eye and the brain are those in which a distorted color, shape or perspective of reality is perceived.

By internal agents

1. High fever can cause an alteration in what is perceived by the senses.
2. Drug use can generate some kind of hallucinations.
3. Tobacco use can cause dizziness and impairment of the senses.
4. Visual or auditory hallucinations occur when voices are heard or things that do not exist in reality are seen, this can be the product of certain diseases.
5. The perception of a color or a texture is different for each individual because it depends on the visual and sensitive organ of each person.

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