this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2023
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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Eyes are freaky af (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/showerthoughts
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Just stared into a lemurs eyes for half a minute aparently (that felt like an hour) and it freaked me tf out. Since been staring into peoples eyes or animals eyes and its consistently weird and freaky no matter what. Also it feels like my conciousness is behind my eyes and maybe thats why they say eyes are the window to the soul.

Noone may ask what I took or how much

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I’ve wondered about this recently too. Eyes are only sensory organs. People can also do fine without them. So why are they so expressive?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Because they are our primary sense.

Humans are social animals and were group hunters. Being able to judge emotions and intentions of another human just by looking into their eyes (silent communication) was a massive evolutionary advantage for us.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Facial expressions are a powerful form of communication. Faces (especially eyes) are so important to communication in the human brain that we see faces in places (pareidolia).

There is also a theory that we evolved to have the whites of our eyes visible so others can see where you're looking and react appropriately (especially in the case of danger).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you have any sources on that?

I'm not trying to call you out, I'm interested in reading more.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Sure. It's called the Cooperative Eye Hypothesis.

https://www.livescience.com/4299-eyes-alluring.html

Some researchers have called it into question fairly recently: https://phys.org/news/2021-06-cooperative-eye-hypothesis.html

I learned most of this in psychology classes years ago. There is also a Wikipedia article on the topic. I'm not an expert at all, but I find this stuff fascinating.