March 26, 2013
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light
have you ever wondered why we chose light as our main sense for information? i know i have, when i was younger and freshly aware of the ability that animals have when it comes to the sense that provides update of the environment. say like smell or sound. when a person investigates the options a few things come to the mind. first is the fact that since bats can safely navigate in pitch black via the echolocation. speed of information of the carrier seems to be trivial. considering that being mammalian and the fact that yes some bats but mostly other mammals have night vision. why would the sound bats opt for this method? the advantage is elusive and remains for someone to uncover. since the bat uses sound which travels at roughly 700 mph at sea level versus light which travels at 186 696 mps (miles per sec: kind of like going two times and a bit over 2/3rds the circumference of the earth in one second), there must be something to it. however the day that the universe fulfills human logic is the day i stop thinking of these kind of questions. no time soon, i guarantee it. still, to make this more tantalizing the fact that some blind people use sound waves and the faint effect of rebounded sound on the tip of their tongues to navigate is just all the more intriguing. sound, as a means of sight seems unlikely and strange , but as we know the whales would have a few words to say on that.though, conceivably in water, for some reason i can fathom it, having more vibration and in a finite environment, it seems to make sense. however, light surely is the way to go. it is not a restrictive quality of earth alone. to espy light is to look upon one of the genuine forces of the universe. light, travels in its way from distances well beyond any possible ability to imagine from galaxies in space.
so light surely seems the winner. still questions come up. like why are the truly environmentally conditioned animals at the bottom of the deepest trench of the ocean seen to have markings when there is literally no light at all to be found? this question is perplexing. the truth is, life is tuned into many different wavelengths of light. it is incredible to consider that the color red, if it is down in the depths, may not reflect red at all but being a substance that reflects emf rays or photons, which are electromagnetic just like microwaves and radio waves, cosmic rays as well as pretty much anything that can be applied to the spectrum all belonging to the emf band. fm and am respectively exist just after light.(mixed with micro,x-ray and uv). so, surely the electromagnetic sensing the deep sea life has to locate prey at the bottom comes into play with the reflective quality of the markings on the denizens of the deep. they may very well see them. though i am not sure if it would appear as the same as we do. i can safely say that whatever the passive quality of reflected coloration that occurs is, there is a perception that means the same, even know color via reflected light doesn’t exist that deep. though some animals will glow and emit photons in the deep. there is still some valid reason for the actual color. the tube worm which lives at the bottom of some of the deepest trenches, has an entire life cycle and creates a valid ecology via the bacteria that grow within it. the bacteria are actually what break down the foodstuff into edible source, it is a symbiosis that defies the conditions for life. because there is no light , no possible way light can reach there at all. the whole thing proves that light is ultimately not a needed thing. yet they still have two colors with the top being red.
so light remains ever so important for most animals to see though. one reason why is because when it began , when life began to utilize light for information gathering, the atmosphere was deadly. mostly uv and what uv can do to a life form is damaging on the genetic level. so it was obvious that some form of detection was necessary .the trilobites had crystal for their multi faceted eyes. literally, crystal. able to be found naturally outside of the extinct animals biology.it had a faceted like set of eyes like what we see on insects today.the only thing i can comment on is that crystal is one thing that can slow the speed of light down. light literally slows down as it passes through crystal which is how quartz finds it’s use in electronics, by being able to slow light down in the emf and thereby regulate the flow through the circuit. these crystalline eyes disappeared with the trilobites.
the ability to take inventory of the surroundings has always been the difference between life and death. it started out with the ability to sense the chemical composition of the aqueous solution the organism was in. this has evolved to many states of complexity.i would wager a carry over of this is the sense of smell. which is by large one of the greater opted for solutions for life on this planet.the land animals use it to locate the hidden or unseen sustenance underground and more importantly , it enables the creature to detect the change of gas composition in the air. the main problem surrounding this is that largely bacteria create the sensation of odor and the undetectable gases are as one suspect, life threatening. still, it remains quite impressive how even some land animals can detect complex information with the sense of smell. dogs by far are the perfect example. one would surmise that what a dog dreams about when we watch them reacting to sensation of dreams, is smells. imagine, navigating and seeing the world in smells. i personally find it hard to even begin to understand what it is they ‘know’.
yet, we sacrificed smell and sound for the sake of light. more specifically the ability to sense the different reflective qualities of visible light. colors are keenly our gambit. not exclusive by no means to us, it still remains a key to the mystery of our origin. more uniquely our own is the stereoscopic vision we have which remains as yet unsolved. though i agree with the idea of us being hunters.insectivores more specifically. the three theories are as follows: we gained it for the purpose of manipulating and foraging seeds, we gained it to race through trees and lastly we gained it to hunt insects. as the theorist who figured the insectivore idea out states. squirrels and a large part of the animal population pretty much prove that running and highly skilled dominion in the trees does not require stereoscopic vision. they can do quite impressively well with the vision they have. this would also go with the idea of foraging seeds and other variations. he pointed out that prey animals have the eyes to the side of the head in order to have a near 360 field of vision. only predators have near stereoscopic or depth perception as a main component of their tool set. i find this perfectly legit. it may also explain the intricate color perception we have.
the ability to see light, is by far one of the most profound things animals on earth have. the distortion of light and potential optical illusions withstanding are greatly undermined it seems with the instantaneous and therefore highly detailed information received. there is a concept that i have always liked about us, life and humans who have the ability to discern through language what we see in a photograph. even know it has the radio waves and the heat waves and pretty much the entire spectrum (if present at time of taking the picture present). we cant see them, but they are there. to think that such a vast amount of information exists, in that small sliver of a stunning spectrum of a cosmic force. imagine, what some animals could potentially see in a photograph. it is bewildering.but i feel no envy, the richness of colors from the green of jade to the softness of dawn reflected on clouds. the majesty of sunset and intricate layering of sediment rock , crystallized and forever the sedating testimony of time beyond reckoning. what my eyes, our eyes, see and how we can perceive with the mind that we have. one can not blame us for the desire of reproduction. art remains our providence.it remains our testimony of an animal form that fell in love with the earth.