Why Binocular Rivalry Is Interesting
Binocular rivalry has engaged scholars since it was discovered in 1593. It is of interest for its own sake as a remarkable example of variations in consciousness: clear, high-contrast images disappear and reappear at random. It is interesting because it is seen as a key to the ancient problem of singleness of vision: why, when we have two eyes each of which can support perception by itself, we don't see two of everything and everything is not twice as bright when we have both eyes open. It is also interesting because it's an example of the effects of attention and top-down influences on perception, the effects of structural properties of visual stimuli and bottom-up influences on perception, an example of bistable perception or of multistable perception, and also as a key to finding a neural correlate of consciousness. See Contour rivalry.
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