Thread: The speed of perception and c

It must mean our perception is faster than the speed of the perceived object or light at all times otherwise the objects speed could not be measured.
For example trying to count the spokes in a movinf wagon wheel, on celluloid where the spokes can move backward sometimes.

But that could be a bad analogy.

So that is my idea: we can only perceive and measure phenomenon because were seeing them faster than their moving. If they were moving faster than our perception, then we would not even notice their existence, let alone measure them. So we can only measure c because our perception or radar is faster.
I hope my ideas are appreciated.

Spoke on moving wheel do not move backward under outdoor lighting (it only happens in indoor lighting: due to strobbing effect).

Light source:
The frequency of a TV is about 50~60 Hertz, the frequency of Fluorescent lamp is about 60Hz, the frequency of a computer monitor can be up to 100Hz, and a frequency of the sun is infinite/continuous (no strobbing effect).

Light perceiver:
Our visual system has frequency less than 60Hz; That's why we didn't see light fixture and TV do "dark-bright-dark-bring-dark..." strobbing (but fast camera can see this).

What does "speed of perception" mean? Speed is a measurement of distance traveled over time; perception doesn't move.

Originally Posted by Joshua Stone

So that is my idea: we can only perceive and measure phenomenon because were seeing them faster than their moving. If they were moving faster than our perception, then we would not even notice their existence, let alone measure them.

People can be killed by bullets that they couldn't possibly see. There are other ways of measuring than seeing.

If by "speed of perception" you mean the response time of the visual system then that is a time and cannot be compared to a speed. In fact the response time is pretty slow, as can be seen from the fact that we don't see the flicker of a movie if the frame rate is greater than about 20 frames per second.

You are right that if something passed by fast enough (so it was only in your field of view for 100th of a second, say) then you wouldn't see it.But that has nothing to do with the speed of light.

You might want to look at this: Motion perception - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By speed,perhaps Joshua is referring to the neuron signal speed?