Currently, if your eyes are closed you can still get a sense of the light around you, and moving your head around you can tell if you’re moving it toward or away from a light source (barring maybe if you’re outdoors and it’s bright out all around you).
But what if when we closed our eyes it was like full blackout? Would blinking become disorienting? Could it mess up circadian rhythms? Something else? Or would it not really matter?
You can see your nose at all times, as it is within your field of vision at all times - but your brain filters it out, so what you actually “see” is a nose-free impression of your surroundings. It works like a movie editor that removes unwanted parts from raw footage before the movie is actually shown to the public.
If blinking were a total blackout for a fraction of a second, I’d wager the human brain would have developed a workaround to delete that / filter it out as well, so you wouldn’t even notice a difference.
so what you actually “see” is a nose-free impression of your surroundings
yeah, i wish.
I was gifted a big fat bulbous beak from my parents, it’s half my vision!
Same. No matter how fast I turn my head, it always seems to move faster!
I’ve got a narrow nose, and I still notice it all the time.
Already does. Persistence of vision. It’s why some seconds seem longer when you look at a clock suddenly. Your brain fills in the missing “frames” with what it thinks should be there.
I’d sleep way better and wouldn’t need blackout curtains
But then you wouldn’t be able to naturally wake up in the morning, which is best triggered by light much as the release of melatonin is triggered by darkness.
Most people need to work in the winter, too. It’s still dark outside in the morning either way, whether my eyelids are translucent or not.
You can make it a lot easier to wake up in the winter months by getting a sunlight clock.
I don’t wake up to the light though
It helps with waking much as darkness does with sleeping, but it similarly is not going to be enough to overcome under sleeping or a sleep disorder.
Sure but I need help going to (and staying) sleep, not waking up. My natural wake up time is before the sun rises (430-5am)
Have you tried abusing prescription drugs?
Interestingly, you note that your natural wake up time is when the sun rises, but don’t recognize that it might be because that’s when the sun rises.
Interestingly, I wake up 2 hours before sunrise and noted my use of blackout curtains regardless.
Sounds like you have a relatively healthy sleep-wake schedule.
It would have a negative impact on your sleep-wake cycle, which relies on light and darkness. You would fall asleep more easily but struggle to wake up.
Nothing would happen. You blink for a fraction of a second.
Also, note that the eyelids of people with darker skin already pass less light than those of people with lighter skin. (That is the purpose of darker skin)
