I was googling things yesterday about the concept of misinterpreting your surroundings. Apparently this misinterpretation is called an "illusion".

I get this a lot. For example, one time I "saw" a rusty, old, teal Chevy pickup truck parked on the side of the road, partially in the woods. (Looked like something out of the 90s.) It had a cracked windshield. Then I looked away because I thought, "huh, that's weird. I guess it's in bad shape and no one wants it, which is why they probably dumped it on the side of the road." When I looked back, it was just a giant, yellow trashbag. (One of those trashbags that get picked up by volunteers and sent to the dump.) It wasn't a pickup truck.

[Shazerac]

Sometimes it could be an illusion and sometimes it could just be a reality shift. Our brains are bombarded with gazillions of bits of information. I frequently get a glance at something only to glance back and it looks like something else completely. I kind of view it as a glitch in the Matrix. I know that sounds weird, but I’m weird anyway.

Also just to mention,the way our brains operate is so complicated and unpredictable that “eye witness” testimony is getting a bad rap in the legal system. They have done studies where they have room full of 50 people or so. Then they have a person run in grab someone’s backpack and run out. Everyone sees something different! They can’t even agree on gender or skin color.

I think illusions are very common. Not just ones perceived via the senses, but even things like a person being good when in fact they are bad.

If anyone is interested, I wrote a blog post a while back about illusions vs. hallucinations. It is at https://birdflight.blog/2017/11/06/i...always-matter/

That's interesting, Shazerac.

I don't glance at things. I look at them for anywhere from a few seconds to a minute. Then they transform. It's very weird. For example, as I was driving into work this morning, I saw a man jogging in a grey sweatshirt. He was jogging across the road and almost tripped until he transformed into a white road sign. But I had to slam my brakes because I didn't want to hit him. Very weird

I agree on the eye witness thing. I've been a victim of people accusing me of saying/doing stuff that I never said/did. It's annoying.

Originally Posted by BirdDancer

I think illusions are very common. Not just ones perceived via the senses, but even things like a person being good when in fact they are bad.

If anyone is interested, I wrote a blog post a while back about illusions vs. hallucinations. It is at https://birdflight.blog/2017/11/06/i...always-matter/

Nice blog post. Very insightful.

Sometimes I get auditory ones as well. For example, the wind will be blowing and then I hear a woman shrieking at the same time. Or the latest, I heard bells ringing in the wind. Bizarre stuff.

[Nola0250]

Interesting, I get these sometimes too. I was confused about why my pdoc said they were not hallucinations. Maybe this is why.

[Shazerac]

Just going to add a PS here. You think this happens to many people. They just don’t admit it or don’t see it as a problem. I think that only if it is distressing you or interfering with your functioning at life that you need to seek help. (That’s just my opinion.)