It’s really amazing, when you stop to think about it. Try this little experiment: Go for a drive and spot all the traffic signs that you can find.

First, notice how long after you looked at each sign it took for your brain to realize it was a traffic sign. I bet that each recognition took an amount of time so small as tobe nearly unmeasurable.

Second, notice how many signs you saw. Different sizes, shapes, colors, words, meanings.

The point of this experiment is to bring a stark appreciation to the amount of data that you can process, visually, as well as the speed with which you store and retrieve dat. It’s truly amazing that you can distinguis these different objects, which have nothing physical in common just an abstract meaning and so readily classify them.

If you are still looking at me blankly, try this: write down a set of instructions that a 2 year old could follow to determine whether anything visual is a traffic sign in any condition. Just try and account for Stop, Yeild, Street Name, No parking, Carpool, Highway migh markers, no stopping, no parking, u turn, no u turn, right turn only, and those signs which are painted on the ground which are innevitably half covered in rubber… You begin to see the complexity of the situation now? Begin to appreciate how easily your brain can classify such data so readily?

It’s really quite fantastic!