Nautilus

Depth Perception & Death Prevention: Babies’ Visual Instinct

e humans take a lot for granted. Pizza delivery, email, smartphones, dishwashers. All of this occurs in the background, making our lives simpler. None of it requires any explicit effort. Our minds also do a lot of subconscious work that we take for granted. Have you ever seriously thought about how you know that the TV remote is just a bit too far away from you to reach without getting up from the couch. Or that your friend is closer to the switch, so will she please turn off the lights? Depth perception is one of those things that just But scientists and philosophers grappled with the question of depth perception for centuries. Is the ability to reason about the depth of objects something inherent to the mind? Are we born with this ability? Or do we require experience with the world before

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