Tuesday, April 13, 2010

A Quick Word... On Looking

When I was a kid I had this clock that would flash on the hour and illuminate the whole room if the lights were out. I used to lie there, opening and closing my eyes so that - if I did it at just the right time - it would look like the light wasn't flashing at all, but was instead always on, the closing of my eyes perfectly synchronised to the points when the room was engulfed in darkness.

I wondered then - and I wonder now - what other things about the world we tell ourselves are true, but are just the quantum illusions of our devious eyes. It's like in Toy Story when the boy leaves the room and suddenly all his possesions come to life, playing and having adventures, and then de-animating as soon as they hear him coming back up the stairs.

I wonder... what is it that none of us see? What is it we miss when we sleep, when we choose not to look? Is everything just as we left it, or like the clock, leaving the room in darkness whenever you don't keep your eye on it, is there something missing?

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