The Phenomenology of Perception

The salamander is an amphibian with a high capacity for regeneration. If we cut off its tail, it regenerates, and even more amazingly, if we cut its optic nerve, it also regenerates, meaning that the salamander recovers its vision. We can even remove its eye completely and put it back in place, and the optic nerve will heal and regenerate. However, the most interesting thing about this experiment is that when we rotate the salamander's eye 180 degrees and place an insect in front of it, the salamander shoots its tongue backwards and misses its target. This happens because when we rotate the salamander's eye, the posterior retina moves forward, taking the place of the anterior retina, and vice versa; the same happens with the upper retina, which moves downwards, and the lower retina, which moves upwards. What this experiment indicates, therefore, is that 'the act of shooting out the tongue and capturing the insect is not an act of aiming at an external object, but of making an internal correlation' (HUMBERTO MATURANA).

Autorentext

Bachelor- und Masterabschluss in Philosophie an der Staatlichen Universität Rio de Janeiro (UERJ); Master in Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Technik und Erkenntnistheorie (HCTE) an der Bundesuniversität Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ); Spezialisierung in Neuropsychologie am Institut für Angewandte Neurowissenschaften (INA).