Contents:
- Medical Video: Seeing things with a fresh pair of eyes
- Your eyes can feel things without realizing it
- Humans are very sensitive to the views of others
- Not that you feel always right
Medical Video: Seeing things with a fresh pair of eyes
You are in a cafe or park. Suddenly you shudder and feel as if there are a pair of eyes watching your movements. You can even feel the approximate direction of the view. Whether on the left, right, from behind, or even in front of you. You must have felt watched like this, right?
Sometimes, this sensation is not just a feeling. When you look, it's true. Indeed there is someone who is staring at you from afar. However, there is also no one who is looking at you.
How can humans feel that there are a pair of eyes watching him? Even though you might not be looking in that direction. Well, here is a scientific explanation from experts why you can be watched by someone.
Your eyes can feel things without realizing it
A case study in the 2013 Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience reveals that people who experience serious visual impairments can still feel when they are watched.
In this case study, experts placed photos of people's faces in front of research subjects who could not see because of cortical blindness. There are photos of people staring straight ahead, there are also photos of people looking at the side. When faced with photos of people looking forward, the subject of the study suddenly felt threatened and alert. This emergence of alertness is seen from the scans of the brain of the research subject
This means that your brain and eyes are so sensitive to visual signals around you. The human eye does have a very broad and detailed range of views. Even the eyes of people with cortical blindness can still catch the signs or shadows of the person in the photo who is looking at him.
Especially the eyes of healthy people who can see clearly. Even though you are not looking directly at the person who is watching you, your eyes and brain are able to detect other people's movements, gazes, or shadows.
Humans are very sensitive to the views of others
The eye has become one of the most important communication tools for human survival. For humans, eye contact is very important to convey information and emotions effectively.
That's what distinguishes the human eye from other animals. Ants, for example, do not require eye contact to communicate because they have a special communication system that involves touch, sound, and pheromones (body odor).
Therefore, humans have the instinct to "read" the eyes of others. There is an instinctive urge to know where other people are looking, whether in your direction or in another direction. By ensuring what others are looking at, you seem to know what he is thinking or feeling.
Sensitivity to the human eye is what makes you unconsciously always watch out for other people's views. So when someone glances at you, you can immediately detect the movement of his eyes. You become anxious and feel like the person wants to communicate with you.
Not that you feel always right
Feeling someone supervised does not necessarily mean that someone is really watching you. According to a study in the journal Current Biology, when you can't guess where someone's eyes are headed, humans immediately assume that the person must be looking at him.
For example, when there are people who wear sunglasses. You cannot see the direction of his eyes so you feel anxious, as if the person is looking at you. Especially when the head is pointing to your place. Though this feeling is not necessarily true.
Likewise if someone is sitting on the bus parallel to your line. Instead of looking forward, the person is looking sideways. You also immediately think that the person is looking at you. In fact, he was looking out at the window next to you.
Because you feel cared for, you turn back to him. The person then feels watched by you and reflexively looks at you. You and that person then exchange views or eye contact for a few seconds.
