this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2025
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The way mantis shrimp see is nonetheless super cool and interesting. They likely have no conception of 2D color at all, and can only sense the 12 different colors in general. Furthermore, only the midband of their eyes see color, when the eyes are moving and scanning for prey, they don't see color at all, which probably helps offload mental load for their small brains. Once they do see something, they then stop moving their eyes to determine the color of what they're looking at.
Also, mantis shrimp have 6 more photoreceptors in addition to the 12 colored ones, to detect polarized light. They likely see them the same way that they see color, so they probably don't consider them anything different than wavelength which is what we interpret as color.
Ed Yong's An Immense World has a section on this and I'd highly recommend it. The ways animals sense and perceive the world are often so different for ours and it's so fascinating.
"Spiders can detect danger coming their way with an early-warning system called eyes."
Really fantastic book. I did have some notes though. Firstly, if honeybees have such low dpi vision, how can they see each other dance? I assume it's because they're experiencing the dance some other way, but how? (Also it's hella dark in there, isn't it?)
He says many times that humanity's umwelt is dominated by sight, but I very much disagree. To lose my hearing or sense of touch would make me feel quite blind, as I use them to perceive things outside my cone of vision constantly. Being in deep water is unnerving for this reason, because I can't "see" what's around me, and I have this whole new area below that I can't hear either. So I have to wonder whether other people feel the way he does or whether my usage is more unique.
He really blew my mind when describing exafference and reafference because these things are reliant on a sense of self in the first place, which means that even the worm in his example must have some form of ego.
You show that you are dominated by sight even as you say you aren't.
Losing your hearing or touch would remove peripheral senses, yes, and certainly that would be unnerving, but think how much worse it would be to lose sight. Hearing wasn't even a factor for you beyond your peripheral, because what you can see is so much clearer, so much more comprehensive, than what you can hear, that hearing is negligible where you have sight.
Hearing is a backup sense. Something you lean on when you don't have sight, but its fidelity is poor enough in people that we rely nearly wholly on sight, when we can.
Losing that cone of vision impacts us far more than our hearing, although of course losing either is massively detrimental.
That might vary by person, but for me it's not. If I had to pick between being able to see and being able to hear, it'd be hearing, hands down. Being able to see is amazing and I'd miss it, but hearing is just a whole other dimension.
Being able to know how someone is feeling, just by hearing their voice. Listening to music and hearing all the shapes, colors, and feelings that come with it. The colors aren't always ones you can see, like blue or yellow. It's hard to describe. I'll close my eyes and just listen at a concert (not the whole time) and same with TV, a lot of times. I usually remember it better that way.
If I have to find something in a backpack, I'll often do it by feel. I probably look like a raccoon washing its food, but it just works for me. You can tell things apart by feel and sound.
Your description of hearing shapes and colors sounds a lot like someone with synesthesia, a rare condition that's seems to have no downsides and only benefits.
A potential downside is sensory overload.
I don't have it but one of my kids does. She sees colors with certain numbers and letters. Certainly doesn't seem to have a downside for her and in my reading I haven't heard of a sensory overload issue. Is this strictly related to the synesthesia or perhaps synethesia exaggerating an existing autistic or ADHD issue?
I'm AuADHD, myself, but do not experience synthesisia so that certainly colors my perspective. People with sensory sensitivities would definitely be more prone to experiencing challenges with synthesisia and sensory overload but anyone can potentially be impacted under the right circumstances. Particularly intense sensory stimuli can be stressful. Make it multi-sensory and the intensity level is effectively increased.
Children who are otherwise neurotypical can sometimes have a little bit of a harder time with stress and intense sensations, which can manifest as meltdowns and the like.
That's neat.
It makes me wonder if your hearing is better than average or if your eyes are worse, making it not so clear-cut.
Do you need glasses, or have you ever had your hearing tested for whatever reason?
I don't need glasses. Haven't had my hearing tested, but I think it might be better than average. I can hear high frequencies annoyingly well, 20kHz or a little more (checked with a spectrum analyzer). It's fun to listen to the high harmonics in music. Vacuum cleaners and electric cars are less fun.
I can usually hear my muscles and bones moving. It's very quiet and low frequency, and the muscles rumble. I can usually tune it out though.