A note to the reader:
When this essay was presented on 30 January 1994 at the Gulf
Coast Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship I used a
visual aid, mentioned on page 2, which consisted of a large mantel
clock with the second hand replaced with an 8" diameter wheel of poster
board, covered with a printed fabric. With this I could demonstrate to
a larger audience, an effect that I originally noticed staring into a
cup of coffee after stirring with powdered cream substitute. Upon
transferring one's gaze to a textured stationary surface there is an
illusion of reverse rotation of the stationary pattern, in just the
part of the visual field subtended by the rotating raft of foam.
At the original presentation I had these references in hand in case
anyone wanted to pursue the subject further:
Margolis, H. Patterns, Thinking, and
Cognition - A Theory of Judgement.
University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Margolis, H. Selfishness, Altruism, and
Rationality - A Theory of Social Choice.
Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Gazzaniga,M. Mind Matters - How the mind and brain interact
to create our conscious lives.
Houghton Mifflin, 1988.
Sperry, R. Science and Moral Priority -
Merging mind, brain, and human values.
Praeger Scientific, 1983.
Another book just published, a popular development of similar subject
matter, is by Francis Crick of the Watson - Crick team
that worked out the structure and function of DNA.
Crick, F. The Astonishing Hypothesis - The
Scientific Search for the Soul
Macmillan, New York, 1994.
A memorable essay on a related topic, by Jacques Monod, another
Nobel prize winner who was head of the Pasteur Institute.
Monod, J. Chance and Necessity - An Essay
on the Natural Philosophy of Modern Biology.
Translation by Austryn Wainhouse. Random House, New
York, 1970.