The lilac chaser illusion is a nice one:
The observer is dedicatedly focused on the moving gap, but then nothingness becomes a thing the observer is following thereafter…
Many can relate to the fox’s wise lesson to the Little Prince:
“What is essential is invisible to the eye”*.
While one adamantly focuses on something which might not be essential—
that non-essential [no]thing becomes our focus and effort drain.
Such a person might lose understanding of context or focus on the “big picture” to follow a movement of a figment of the imagination; such person may also osculate with other possible observers:
The numb observer, who sees a circle of blurred spots on a gray background.
That person is indifferent to any movement, be it a missing content (or a gap) with the sequence or a nonexistent additional item.
Such a person will not understand any exchange on movement of focus, either.
The distracted observer, who occasionally glimpses at the gray area.
That person is aware of the fact that there are several spots in a circle
and may occasionally notice one spot or another is missing.
Such a person may chuckle at the phenomenon—but ignore it (“It’s not my problem”), or (if moral consciousness hits)—may inquire on the perceived issue.
Not sure such a person will stay to get a full analysis, expect an answer, or remember such the next time passing by the gray square…
The obsessed observer, who notices the gap but loses track of it about every 30 seconds.
This observer will grumble, look outside the sqaure, get back to track the gap, and so on.
The Beavis to the Butt-Head: A similar person, who will take the 30-minutes to get to notice the green circle, and then—spend the afternoon giggling and tittering.
Related posts:
There are some…
* Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince