Page 671 - Atlas of Creation Volume 4

Harun Yahya

Distance is Also a Perception Formed Solely in Our Brains

We quickly realize when people approach from a distance. Their appearance, voice and size vary de-

pending on the terrain. On the basis of these factors, we make an analysis and determine the distance
between them and us. Yet in fact, there is no distance at all between these others and ourselves. The idea
that we are seeing them from some distance is due to a computation we carry out in our brains. Our sen-
sation of distance is just a perception.

The appearance of what we call the external world is so convincing and impressive that one needs
to reflect carefully in order to realize that it is all simply perceptions. Such factors as distance, depth, co-
lor, shade and light make the images so convincing and credible. These materials have been employed
so flawlessly that they assume a three-dimensional, colored and vivid form in the brain. When countless

details are added to this image, the result is the world that we inhabit throughout our lives, imagining
it to be the original, but which in fact is a mere copy that we really experience only in our minds.
The perception that we refer to as “distance” is a kind of three-dimensional sensation. The factors
we call perspective, shade and movement awaken a sense of depth and distance in images. This depth

perception, known as space perception in optical science, is provided through highly complex systems.
The simplest way of describing the system is to state that the image reaching any one eye is merely a
two-dimensional one, with height and width only. The dimensions of the images reaching the retina,
and the fact that both eyes see different images, give rise to the sensation of depth and distance. The ima-

ges falling onto our two eyes differ slightly in terms of angle and illumination, and the brain then com-
bines these two images together into a single picture that gives a sensation of depth and distance.

There is in fact no distance between our-
selves and someone we imagine to be
approaching from far off. The feeling of
distance we perceive is merely an interpre-
tation by the brain. We are in fact in the
same spot as a tunnel we imagine extends
as far as the horizon. Everything is merely
shown to us at one point inside the brain.

Adnan Oktar 669