Is Seeing Believing?

                       
Little off the topic of mnemonics. But I'd like to share this with you.

What is the more powerful sense. The sense of touch or vision?

This is an experiment I did 20 years ago when studying after images. It may help answer this question.

You will need a xeon flash (camera flash). Computer monitor or television screen. The larger
the better.  I used a CRT (being 20 years ago). An LCD or LED screen should be adequate. A chair and an assistant to hold the flash.

Sit in the chair arm length in front of the monitor. Hold out one arm with your hand on the monitor.

Have the assistant turn the lights off, (Make the room as dark as possible) and hold the flash about 6 inches above and a little behind your head.
Have the assistant trigger the flash once.

Relax and don't move. You should see a full color after image of your arm. Now switch arms quickly.
(Hold out your other arm and place your hand on the monitor).

What do you observe?

You may want to repeat this experiment a few times to get the timing right. Color after images may take 5-10 seconds to dissipate. The black and white images may take 10-20 seconds to dissipate.

I observed when I switched arms before the color after image dissipated.  I could not  feel the movement of my arm and could not feel my hand touching the monitor until the after image dissipated.

My conclusion.  In this experiment vision is more powerful than the sense of touch.

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