Marginally apropos of the discussion below about color perception, the August 23 edition of the New Yorker contains a fascinating article by neurologist Oliver Sacks (sadly unlinkable, but here is his website) about the way that we perceive the passage of time. Of particular interest to me was the section on hypnic jerks, which, as my long-suffering partner could attest, I suffer from regularly. If you've ever experienced a hypnic jerk at the moment of falling asleep you'll know that it's commonly accompanied by a dream sequence which "explains" the sensation as falling over, tripping, etc. This dream can often be quite detailed and involve a complicated backstory to the eventual fall. The really weird thing, however, is that the whole dream is generated at the moment of the hypnic jerk - in other words, the story which you think has been taking place for some time is delivered to your brain instantly and just seems to antedate the jerk; it's like the TV version of the Godfather trilogy, where material from the sequel is edited in ahead of the first movie even though it was filmed later. Bizarre.
Posted by Alan Allport at August 30, 2004 09:19 AMGeez, so that's what that is. I've been wondering that for years. I do that all the time, and really spectacularly at that.
Posted by: Graeme Burk at August 30, 2004 07:34 PMMe too!
Usually when I have them the accompanying dream is that I'm falling down the church steps after I'd just been married... but I'm on roller skates. Go figure...
Posted by: Jacqui at September 2, 2004 11:35 PM