What would a mantis shrimp see through a telescope pointed at the cosmos?

Mapping the Medium November 03, 2020 at 12:51 2975 views 6 comments

I find it fascinating that man studies 'man's' universe through his own senses and seems to forget that other living organisms can have completely different sensory perspectives of our shared medium than that of human beings. How do you imagine an individual human perspective might be broadened if he/she were able to see, hear, and feel all that surrounds us through the perception spectrum of not only other humans, but also those of other life forms?

Comments (6)

Sir2u November 03, 2020 at 15:03 #468036 0 likes

It would see exactly the same thing, because that is what is there to see. Whether it sees it in color, infrared, or as any other sort of energy wave would depend on its sensory ability.
How would it interpret what it saw would be the important question.

SophistiCat November 03, 2020 at 18:54 #468108 0 likes

Reply to Mapping the Medium Yes, we are well aware of that. Even ordinary photo-video media (film, digital sensors) don't have the same light sensitivities as the human eye, and that has long been known and accounted for in various ways. But while in a consumer photo camera, for example, you want maximum fidelity to human perception*, when it comes to scientific imaging we have been sensing far outside the human range, and for a long time. Radio telescopes, for example, have been around since 1930s (says Wiki). On Earth we also use a wide spectrum of EM radiation, magnetic fields, ultrasound, electron beams, gravity sensors and other creative sensing techniques.

* Fun fact: digital cameras include an infrared filter, without which they would be picking up IR light. If you have an old digital camera that you aren't afraid to break, you can try and remove it yourself - and presto, you can now take pictures in the infrared spectrum!

Mapping the Medium November 03, 2020 at 19:27 #468113 0 likes

Quoting SophistiCat

Yes, we are well aware of that.

Yes. Since I am such a nerd :nerd: who has studied all types of life forms over the course of my life, I am well aware that we are well aware of that.

My question is about more than just the lens of the eyes or the lens of telescopes and cameras.

Here's one fairly informative article that might prompt a bit of imagination.....
Mantis shrimp have the world's best eyes -- but why?

And here's another .....
Mantis shrimp brain contains memory and learning centers found only in insects

And another.....
They can even see cancer......

Quoting Sir2u

or as any other sort of energy wave would depend on its sensory ability.

Yes, the brain taking in information and processing it based on the already ingrained and mapped neural network is fascinating, between different humans AND other different life forms.

SophistiCat November 03, 2020 at 20:14 #468121 0 likes

Reply to Mapping the Medium See The World Through The Eyes Of A Cat

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Mapping the Medium November 03, 2020 at 21:03 #468140 0 likes

Quoting SophistiCat

See The World Through The Eyes Of A Cat

Very cool! It kind of looks like slitted 'cat'aracts. Lol. ... And I wonder how each of those things are interpreted. I mean, I know we can study the lens of their eyes through the eyes of a human, but can we ever know for sure how it looks to their brain?

SophistiCat November 03, 2020 at 22:23 #468163 0 likes

Reply to Mapping the Medium Yeah, we don't even know all that much about how animal eyes work - color resolution, etc. We have some idea, but there is considerable uncertainty there. As for vision at the level of cognition, my guess is that we know much less than that. And what we can learn would be expressed in the language of neuroscience or psychology, which isn't the same as conveying "what it feels like."