A Comforting Site and Depth Perception

A view from Bobst Library, Washington Sq. Park

When a test looms, and I need to go into "cram mode," I often visit Bobst Library. These study sessions, often encompassing my entire day [of course with many needless breaks], would be hectic and stressful for the normal medical student. Not for me - I have the ESB in my sight at all times. No matter what happens, no matter how I fair on the latest exam, I always can count on that glorious view to greet my eyes when I next visit this library. Often, I tell my med school friends that I think we are the luckiest medical students in the world - just look at our marvelous surroundings! Of course, they usually don't agree with me, and would rather ask me a neurotic question pertaining to the exam, but I am confident that I am not alone in my enjoyment of my dear city and skyscrapers!

Depth and Size Perception

There is it, peaking out from the tall trees and seemingly relatively more massive buildings, that tiny little majestic facade and minuscule spire. The Empire State Building, viewed from the confines of Bobst Library, New York University's flagship for learning, appears smalls and insignificant. Part of the fascination I have the the ESB is that it looks entirely different in stature, in color, in shape, in grandeur, and in importance depending on where you view it from. Yet, the keen observer would note the location and angle versus the distance, and would recognize the sheer size of the structure they are looking at.

Interestingly, a group of people called the Mbuti Pygmy tribe of Eastern Congo, lack both depth and size perception! You see, by living in the confines of a dense jungle for their entire lives, these people are unable to assess the size of objects over a distance. In fact, they have never even been exposed to a site "in a distance," as described here by the famous Colin N. Turnbull in 1961! When viewing a buffalo in a far away field for the very first time, a Mbuti child asked what type of "insect" it was - because it looked so small in the distance, but the concept of distance was non-existent for this child! Keep reading, it gets better! The Mbuti people are also immune to mathematics and are unable to count even to the number 4. They cannot add 1+1 [I found this in another source]. How incredible is it that these people exist on our Earth, unharmed by the poisons of society and unable to perform even the simplest calculation, yet are unbelievably adept in survival [probably more than the average westerner]!