The hottest Perception Substack posts right now

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Psychology’s Greatest Hits (Part 3/3)

Living Fossils • 20 implied HN points • 11 Mar 26
🔬 Science Perception
  1. The most reliable psychology comes from explicit, quantitative, testable models—like laws of learning and signal detection—that make precise predictions and connect to other sciences.
  2. Thinking about how minds evolved and work in real environments explains many supposed “biases” and shows family and kinship profoundly shape behavior. Simple heuristics are often fast, frugal, and adaptive rather than errors.
  3. Psychology needs clear, specific, and measurable claims that fit with other disciplines; vague or unfalsifiable ideas lead to error, so healthy skepticism and rigor matter.

Practically-A-Book Review: Byrnes on Trance

Astral Codex Ten • 14453 implied HN points • 09 Jul 25
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. Our brains don’t see the world directly. Instead, they create models based on our senses, which can sometimes be wrong, like seeing colors in an illusion.
  2. The 'self' we think of is more of a model our brain uses to organize thoughts and actions. This model isn't always accurate and doesn't always match up with what's actually happening in our minds.
  3. Experiences like trance or altered states can shift our perception of control. When someone is hypnotized, they might feel like they're no longer in control, showing how our mental models can change and influence our reality.

We've Lost the Ability to See Reality

Webworm with David Farrier • 11301 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Perception
  1. With the rise of AI-generated content and misinformation, we are losing the ability to distinguish reality from fiction on social media.
  2. Our online experiences are increasingly filled with unrealistic and manipulated images and stories that shape our perceptions.
  3. There is a growing concern that the blurred lines between reality and non-reality online are impacting important real-world decisions and behaviors.

The Sun When It Is Behind Translucent Clouds, Pale, Moon-Like, and Painless to Gaze Upon

Atlas of Wonders and Monsters • 339 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Perception
  1. The Sun can look pale, moon-like, and surprisingly painless to stare at when it sits behind a thin, translucent layer of cloud; the solar disc can still appear well defined even though its brightness is much reduced.
  2. There is no widely accepted name for this common-but-unremarked phenomenon, so ordinary search terms return noisy or unrelated results; short candidates that work best include "pale sun," "overcast sun," or "filtered sun."
  3. Both scientific studies and painters have noted similar muted-sun effects—science uses phrases like "filtered sun" or "sharp-edged sun" while art sometimes depicts dull, moonlike discs—but the effect is lightly studied and not an established concept, so broader use and shared photos could help a canonical name emerge.

Maps Distort How We See the World

Uncharted Territories • 6682 implied HN points • 20 Apr 23
🔬 Science Perception
  1. Maps can distort our perception of the world due to the 2D representation of a 3D sphere
  2. Many countries and regions on maps appear different in size and proximity than in reality
  3. Different map projections can show completely different relationships between regions
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Some Responses to Skepticism

Fake Noûs • 194 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. Perceptual experiences can directly justify beliefs without needing further reasons, so conscious appearances stop the regress rather than forcing an infinite chain or vicious circularity.
  2. You needn't first prove a method's reliability before using it; basic belief-forming methods (like perception, memory, and reasoning) can be rational starting points, and some epistemic circularity is acceptable for knowing they work.
  3. We are directly aware of external objects through perception, so we don't have to infer that impressions are mere signs of things — direct perception provides immediate justification for beliefs about the world.

The spread of British decline porn

Wrong Side of History • 436 implied HN points • 02 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Perception
  1. Many Americans have a negative view of Britain, often based on exaggerated stories and online videos. They may think Britain is chaotic, even though it's generally safer than many American cities.
  2. Short-form videos online have changed how people see Britain, showing negative images that create a gloomy impression. This differs from the more positive views that came from British cultural exports like movies and music.
  3. The proliferation of decline-themed content on social media feeds into these negative perceptions. It's important to recognize that much of what people see doesn't paint the full picture of life in Britain.

The hidden against the manifest

Eucatastrophologist • 1218 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. Different perspectives exist and disagreements are normal, it's important to be aware of popular trends of thinking
  2. The demon of demythologisation is about interpreting the world in a fixed way, stripping away mystery
  3. Value perception is crucial in understanding how we view and interpret the world, and affects what we find valuable

Deus Ex Machina

imetatronink • 1611 implied HN points • 09 Dec 23
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. The world is described as a place filled with engineered plagues and masks as symbols of love.
  2. There is a critique on society where the rich thrive and the poor are content with their circumstances.
  3. The text raises the idea that intelligence is now manufactured to serve human needs.

A Version of Direct Realism

Fake Noûs • 224 implied HN points • 29 Nov 25
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. Perception gives direct, non-inferential awareness of external objects when a perceptual experience assertively represents the world and that representation is roughly satisfied and non-accidentally caused by the object.
  2. Perceptual experiences are internal states that have representational content, qualitative character, and a forceful feeling of presence; they are the vehicles that present the external world to us and are what differ in hallucinations or illusions.
  3. Treating experiences as the objects of awareness rather than as the vehicles of awareness is a mistake that leads to indirect realism, skepticism, or idealism; correctly understood, experiences enable direct awareness of real external things.

Objections to Indirect Realism

Fake Noûs • 129 implied HN points • 27 Dec 25
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. Positing sense data creates a serious location problem: they can’t plausibly be in your head, at the external object, wherever they appear, or in a separate “phenomenal space” without contradictions or conflicts with physics.
  2. Percepts often appear indeterminate (e.g. vague colors or unreadable distant text), yet nothing can truly have indeterminate properties, so we can’t be directly aware of mind-dependent objects that exactly match these indeterminate appearances.
  3. The better view is that perception directly presents ordinary physical objects and properties, while our perceptual states sometimes represent those objects imprecisely rather than revealing separate sense-data entities.

Objections to Direct Realism

Fake Noûs • 165 implied HN points • 13 Dec 25
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. Many standard objections confuse appearance with ontology: apparent size changes, a stick looking bent, or double vision can be explained by physical factors like angular size, refraction, or distortion and don’t prove we perceive non-physical intermediaries.
  2. Hallucinations and illusions don’t show that normal perception is of mental images: hallucinations aren’t genuine awareness, and what justifies belief in perception is that things seem to be a certain way, not evidence of mental objects.
  3. Causal delays and debates about qualities like color don’t defeat direct realism: colors can be treated as physical spectral properties, and time lags mean we see objects as they were rather than seeing only mental entities.

People desperately want to believe lockdown was for the greater good - even when the evidence of manipulation is clear.

The Free Mind • 1611 implied HN points • 07 Mar 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Perception
  1. People want to believe lockdown was for the greater good, even when evidence of manipulation is clear.
  2. Cognitive dissonance can make us deny, minimize, or rationalize uncomfortable truths.
  3. Lockdown may have influenced how people perceived the severity of Covid risk, based on government actions.

What is the colour of water?

lifeboat • 786 implied HN points • 06 Dec 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Perception
  1. The color of water can be a blend of various colors like bronze, blue, umber, pink, gold, and silver.
  2. Different cultures and languages may perceive and name colors differently, affecting how we see and describe the world.
  3. Words and language can both reveal and limit our understanding of the world, especially when it comes to describing the ever-changing colors of water.

A New Model of Memory: Representational Change and Representational Success

The Memory Palace • 139 implied HN points • 30 Apr 24
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. Memory shouldn't be judged the same way as perception. Just because we can't remember everything perfectly doesn't mean our memory is faulty.
  2. Instead of thinking about memory accuracy, we should look at how well a memory represents something. This means we can accept changes in how memories are formed and recalled.
  3. Unique aspects of memories, like 'authenticity,' might not be the best standard to evaluate them. Instead, we should focus on how memories succeed in representing our experiences in various ways.

The Two Mystery Theory

husseini • 550 implied HN points • 17 Jun 23
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. Sometimes what you think is a problem may actually be the solution you're looking for.
  2. Don't overlook unexpected sources for solutions to your problems.
  3. Be open to finding what you seek in unexpected ways.

Introducing The McGilchrist Manoeuvre

The Joyous Struggle • 474 implied HN points • 01 Mar 23
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. The McGilchrist Manoeuvre highlights the importance of acknowledging the different but equally valuable perspectives of the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
  2. It emphasizes the relative trustworthiness of the right hemisphere's viewpoint in guiding us on understanding reality and making progress in philosophy.
  3. The maneuver involves transcending contradictions and recognizing the generative nature of coinciding opposites, ultimately enriching our perception and understanding of complex aspects of life.

GM Shaders Mini: OkLab

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 235 implied HN points • 02 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Perception
  1. Color blending in OkLab offers a more natural transition compared to regular RGB blending
  2. Understanding color spaces like sRGB and linear RGB is important for accurate color manipulation
  3. OkLab is a color space that approximates human perception of lightness and chroma, offering perceptually consistent color balancing

🦞 10 of the best ideas from 2022 🦞

Design Lobster • 579 implied HN points • 26 Dec 22
🪑 Design Perception
  1. Understand how visual elements influence perception to guide user attention on a page or screen
  2. Connect design to natural elements to add symbolic significance and meaning to everyday objects
  3. Design reflects and sometimes challenges social norms and class distinctions, so be mindful of the societal impact

Do People Prefer Curved Lines?

UX Psychology • 218 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🔬 Science Perception
  1. Research indicates that people generally prefer curved lines over straight or angular ones due to associations with grace and gentleness.
  2. Preference for curves is not just psychological, but has roots in our perception of safety and nurture, related to our evolutionary past.
  3. In design, understanding people's preference for curved lines can help create more visually appealing and effective products, but individual factors like personality and culture also play a role.

Risky Directions

Desk Notes by Charles Schifano • 109 implied HN points • 27 Jun 25
🎭️ Culture Perception
  1. People used to ask for directions more often, but now everyone has maps on their phones. This change means fewer chances for random, friendly interactions in public.
  2. There’s a balance between being aware of risks in the world and being open to meeting new people. Too much caution can make you miss out on connections.
  3. It's important to not let fear take over your life. While you should be aware of dangers, focusing only on risks can stop you from enjoying life fully.

What Is My Identity?

polymathematics • 39 implied HN points • 02 May 24
🎭️ Culture Perception
  1. A strong identity is colorful and rich, making life more enjoyable. It's important to explore different interests and keep a record of experiences, but identity shouldn't be fragile or too dependent on others' opinions.
  2. Sometimes we feel possessive over our ideas or hobbies, but we shouldn't let that dictate our feelings of self-worth. Remember, our identity is not defined by how others see us or what they think about our work.
  3. Focusing on what truly matters to us in the long term helps keep our identity grounded. We should prioritize doing what we love and building connections with creative, curious people, regardless of outside recognition.

Honest Writing

Desk Notes by Charles Schifano • 607 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
📚 Literature Perception
  1. Writing can be perceived as permanent and irrevocable, creating a pressure for perfection.
  2. Writers may explore different perspectives and sensibilities, not necessarily aligning with their current beliefs.
  3. Literary writing allows room for ambiguity, partial truths, and playfulness, reflecting the complexities of human nature.

Don't Tell Your Parents

Desk Notes by Charles Schifano • 170 implied HN points • 07 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Perception
  1. Kids see the world differently than adults do. They have unique perspectives and experiences that adults often struggle to understand.
  2. Entertainment for kids used to create a sense of adventure and secrecy, but now it often feels like adults are trying too hard to be relatable. This can take away the excitement for children.
  3. Empathy is important for both kids and adults. Understanding each other's viewpoints can help bridge the gap in communication and lead to better relationships.

"Values are what command our allegiance"

The Joyous Struggle • 138 implied HN points • 13 Mar 23
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. Values play a significant role in directing our loyalty and commitment.
  2. Direct perception of value is a complex and important concept, delving into the core of our understanding of 'good' and 'value'.
  3. Public discussions on values encompass various dimensions, from moral foundations to intrinsic and extrinsic values, shaping societal attitudes and behaviors.

The Unhappiness Machine

Caleb’s Newsletter • 137 implied HN points • 13 May 23
📖 Philosophy Perception
  1. In today's digital world, many choose to consume negative news and virtual conflicts, feeding into an 'unhappiness machine.'
  2. The 'unhappiness machine' creates a sense of crisis, victimizes individuals, and distorts reality with constant exposure to negative information.
  3. To break free from the 'unhappiness machine,' prioritize engaging with reality, avoiding unnecessary exposure to shallow meaning and cultural noise.

Reality and imagination

10x your mind • 119 implied HN points • 24 Aug 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Perception
  1. Balancing reality and imagination is crucial in our daily lives, especially when juggling responsibilities like homeschooling and work.
  2. Our perception of reality is influenced by past experiences and internal brain deciphering, showcasing the power of imagination in shaping our outlook.
  3. Sprinkling imagination into routine tasks and embracing optimism can transform everyday moments into opportunities for creativity and productivity.