
The woman with a strange 'second sight' - jeffwass
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170428-i-have-a-strange-second-sight
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NoGravitas
That's a very content-light article on blindsight.

Perhaps you'd prefer the [wikipedia article][0]. Or perhaps you'd prefer the
[Peter Watts novel][1]?

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight)

[1]:
[http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm](http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm)

~~~
rifish
It can be read alongside this article which explains more of the science:
[http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150925-blindsight-the-
stra...](http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150925-blindsight-the-strangest-
form-of-consciousness)

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kneel
So they're not actually blind (their eyes work) but their visual cortex
doesn't perceive a conscious view of the world, they're somehow able to
perceive the world without the visual cortex.

~~~
metaphorm
correct. blindsight is a fascinating topic in cognitive neuroscience because
it is direct evidence for the existence of multiple different cognitive
subsystems for visual processing, and it is fascinating that each of these
subsystems has very different attributes w.r.t representation as objects of
consciousness, reaction time, resolution, etc.

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notacoward
Not quite the same thing, but related and IMO just as cool: human
echolocation.

[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-human-
echol...](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-human-echolocation-
allows-people-to-see-without-using-their-eyes-1916013/)

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alberth
I wonder if "blindsight" explains the conspiracy theory that Stevie Wonder can
see

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgngvsWLlE](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgngvsWLlE)

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corpMaverick
> “The way Dutton explained it was ‘Don’t think about it too much, just go and
> do it. Don’t think too much in your mind.’ It was my subconscious mind
> telling me how to do that task and to avoid hitting the chairs.

Remind me the "Use the force Luke" scene. Perhaps she should get her Midi-
chlorians tested.

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Nomentatus
We all have blindsight re subliminal stimuli and can "guess" where these
appeared with something like 80% accuracy.

