Reflections on reflected light source information

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

This is a bit of a ramble, but its something I've been ruminating on for years. Its the first time I've written on the subject, so I apologize for any and all discontinuities you might find if your brave enough to continue!

Throughout our evolution, Homo Sapiens have received and processed visual information via reflected-light sources, save for fire and the stars, the only sources of direct light available to us for thousands of years. During World War Two the cathode ray tubes of RADAR, the SONAR became our first direct light information sources (statement unsubstantiated).
From these beginnings came television, our first mass direct-light source medium. Television's evolved into the computer monitor and the iPhone touch screen so direct-light-source media is now in almost every home, hand, classroom, and workplace in our culture.
For thousands of years prior to television and the computer monitor, our brains evolved almost exclusively processing reflected-light source visual information. Information that effects our old brain, that part of concerned with survival issues... food, danger perception, and reproduction among them; information also effecting our mid brain, where our emotions are generated, and our new brain or consciousness. So its only since the 1940's our brains have been processing direct-light information sources.
My question: Are direct-light sources as effective as reflected-light sources in activating subjective cognition in our minds?
I'd like you to think of favourite movie you saw years ago... can you conjure images and feelings that movie evoked as you saw it (a light source projected onto a screen and then reflected back to your eye, and then to your brain) ? I think you probably can. Now, think of a television show you saw two weeks ago... can you conjure the same clarity of image recollection, or of feeling they evoked in you? I think probably not. Is that because our brains have not evolved to process those direct-light images as deeply as those reflected light source images you experienced in a movie theatre?
Think about it. Then think about the effectiveness of so called direct-light "learning" sources being promoted today. Think about the ramifications of this thesis. RSD