“There is nothing so confining as the prisons of our own perceptions.” Shakespeare's words nicely capture the circumstance in which we, and indeed all organisms, exist. The systems that humans, dogs, bats, and shrimp use to perceive the world are products of unique evolutionary histories: neurological adaptations tuned through natural selection to provide species with the information necessary for survival. This seminar will explore how scientists use clever behavioral experiments to investigate these exquisite adaptations, and consider the implications of these discoveries for understanding what it means to perceive reality.
(Photo by Margalit Tansman)