Evolution and the Vision Process
October 30th, 2006 | No Comments »I suppose because I have invoked the term “evolution” on a number of occasions the idea that the eye represents an instance of intelligent (i.e., supernatural) “design” has been presented to me. In the best of all worlds at this point in history this would be considered as patent nonsense. Following from my thoughts of light interaction with the retina and the resulting new explanation of the vision process, the eye clearly represents an entirely natural instance of self-organizational biological matter directly objectifying well understood (by humans) laws of physics. By “biological matter” I mean substances that are a result of the inherent properties of atoms and molecules (i.e., atomic bond angles, etc.) accumulating over very long periods of (evolutionary) time.(a)
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(a.) Long chains of carbon atoms form themselves naturally into lipid molecules that can subsequently self-organize into ordered mono- or bi- layers on the surface of water (oceans?). These ordered layers of molecules are identical to the membrane of living cells. When such layers are disrupted by sonification (or the wind?) these layers “curl up” into maximum bending radius “miscelles” that are idenitical to the outer coat of some viruses. And on and non……..
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The physical laws involved are the well understood properties of the refraction of light and the, as yet quite not so well understood (by humans) concepts of quantum theory.
In this explanation, it is shown how wavelength sensitive, spatial “antenna” structures (individual receptors) array themselves on the retinal surface in exact accord with the light refractive properties of the lens and body of the structure of the eye. In my view this is a purely natural occurrence. What has not been seen until proposed in this work is the associated geometric rule that fundamentally and inherently spatially connects this specific assemblage of receptors to light refraction within the eye. By this I mean my oft-quoted “rule of two diameters” where the admixture of two diameters (the cones and rods) defines an exact center - the central 500 nm wavelength of the visual band (and remembering that the absolute ratio of the two diameters corresponds to the visual band 1.8:1 or 700-400 nm). The eye has no need of a “laboratory” wavelength measurement scheme to define the mid band 550 nm wavelength - it is uniquely geometrically defined! But this goes on - Edwin Land’s work on color vision is justified as is the basis for understanding that the vision process is in the Fourier domain and on and on….
As I have discussed in recent comments the extraordinary ability of the eye to detect each single light quanta (“The visual process is at an absolute terminal point in the evolutionary chain….to the extent that the visual process now succeeds in counting each absorbed photon” Albert Rose) requires explanation. At least a start down this road is again provided by this work. At the outset I had written in a form that I hoped would be understandable to those working in the vision science field. I consciously downplayed the physics aspects of the explanation though understanding that the quantum aspects of light interaction certainly were present. Specifically, it is certain that the eye evolved to detect light as the wave of classical physics. This is the interpretation of the wavelength- determining, spatial appositional distance between individual retinal receptors. But…a necessary cofactor in the light interaction is that the absorbing mass of the receptor (actually, the electron located within the receptor) must be confined to single electron “quantum confinement” dimension. The overall light interaction is then an ‘interplay” between these to, really spatial, entities. This implies very fundamental physics questions pertaining to the “complementarity” of the wave/particle nature of light. I had not wanted to address this point but it has eventually reared it’s ugly head! I had contented myself with saying that the the interaction process could be viewed either as a classical or quantum process without violating either theory of physics. But, in attempting to explain the quantum limit of vision (see recent Comments) it seems to become apparent that vision represents a coalescence of the classical and quantum branches of physics - and this occurs in the outer segments of retinal receptors. Quantum reality intrudes in the guise of the “quantum instant” of time that this explanation drives toward (again, see recent Comments). The ultimate explanation of vision is going to involve a new understanding of the coalescence of space and time -with very small spaces and infinitesimal instants of time being inherently involved!
It becomes clear that the only explanation for the retina to detect single quanta is that each individual light reception site possesses the capability for generating a usable signal from the interaction of a single quanta. I have expressed mechanisms that I believe retinal devices use to accomplish this feat. One is then presented with an entirely new view of the retinal surface - an array of a hundred million light detection sites each capable of interacting with single light quanta (detecting at the “quantum limit”).
The starting point for formation of the visual image therefore involves quantal considerations and occurs in a very short time indeed (discussed previously). A spatial image is therefore “there” in this brief time which may be coherently transmitted to the visual centers of the brain through the millions of individual fibers of the optic nerve. Extraordinary! I have proposed that the heretofore unseen geometric principle (see above) that rules the retina may thus be transferred to, and operative in, the neural processes of the brain.
New insight!
I am going to close this now but I will work on further clarification.
GCH
10/30/06
