Waiting for AHA

December 10th, 2006 Fred McVittie Posted in Consciousness, Creativity, Illumination, Time |

An experiment in which an abstract picture slowly resolves itself, producing an AHA! moment of raised consciousness, demonstrates the continuum which exists between this creatively illuminated moment of enhanced cognition and the constant ‘lights on’ feeling of normal waking consciousness. In addition, it also hints at the relationship between the type of cognition which exists just preceding the recognition of the image and the strength of the AHA! moment when recognition itself takes place. When there is no noticeable delay between the initial perception of the image and its recognition, (or rather when the time delay is set only by the organs of perception and visual processing), then the observation is characterised as being accompanied by standard consciousness. However, when recognition is delayed, the time delay, and the corresponding amount of anticipation and ‘waiting’ which occurs in the moments before the image resolves, seems to be in proportion to the strength of the AHA! which follows.