I have reprinted this work, complete with original images, at http://www.wehner.org/3d/first/ .

What reader will discover is astonishing detail with which Professor Wheatstone - as he then was - approaches every nuance of minutiae of visual perception.

With almost every aspect of phenomenon of stereopsis accurately defined, Victorians could rush ahead - particularly after arrival of photography - with production of images that convey depth.

That human mind does not just play eyes over object to measure depth, but can appreciate geometrical form "at a glance" was proven by a simple and ingenious experiment by Wheatstone.

However, an aspect that has been largely overlooked is importance of SHORT-TERM MEMORY for further enhancement of stereoscopic impression.

There is at core of brain a sensory area known as "Limbic System" that gathers impressions from all input data and merges them into an overall "feeling".

Thus, sound, smell, visual appearance, mechanical feel and other facets of an object are all combined in limbic system for its overall cognition. The result might be called a NOUN.

Similarly, when one decides to walk one does not consciously activate every muscle in its correct sequence. Instead, one builds up a REPERTOIRE of movements - a LEG DRIVER in computer parlance - and learned reflex of walking need only be triggered. This reflex "software" resides in cerebellum.

Gnosisceptors (sensory nerves) feed back feeling of walking to limbic system. Thus, when our minds decide to walk, when our eyes see movement and our balancing mechanism records motion, and gnosisceptors in legs confirm leg action, we "feel" walking in our limbic system. Our walking is a VERB.

So verbs and nouns of our perception are created in brain.

It is an inevitable consequence of evolution that those animals that need precise close-up stereopsis have eyes that point forwards. Think of preying animals, lions and tigers.

Isn’t Sympathy a Good Thing?

“Oh you poor thing. What happened to you is just terrible! You must feel awful. I wish there was something I could do.”

Do these words sound familiar? Maybe you’ve used them on a friend or relative who suffered a back break, or perhaps you’ve heard them yourself from a well-meaning friend at a time when something went wrong for you.

Words like these are usually expressed by well-meaning people in form of “sympathy” to someone they care about. But imagine yourself hearing these words right now. How do they make you feel? Loved, cared for, empowered? Or helpless, victimized, and just plain bad?

Though sympathy is a socially acceptible gesture, I suggest that you stop using it and accepting it from others. It doesn’t help you or them. Empathy is a far superior form of expression. Let me explain.

Sympathy or Empathy?

So what’s difference between sympathy and empathy? Sympathy, while highly valued in our culture, can actually be very disempowering. The sympathetic perspective tends to place you above other, placing you in a position that might sound something like, “Oh you poor thing, this is just terrible what’s happening to you.” This behavior on your part will actually enable limited worldview of a person operating from a victim state of mind, and is less likely to help them move to a healthy resolution of their problem.