The unfathomable richness of seeing.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences July 3, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.001 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractVisual experience is unfathomably rich, not sparse. Seeing involves three levels: high-level object and scene categorizations, mid-level feature groupings, and a fundamental spatial field of spots and their relations. Seeing objects requires seeing the groupings that compose them, and seeing groupings requires seeing the spatial field that grounds them. Even the basic feeling of spatial extendedness implies rich phenomenal structure. Much of what we see cannot be used, reported, or remembered, yet we see it.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Phenomenal overflow Visual phenomenology Visual space Visual perception seeing Visual experience |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key finding | Argues that visual experience is unfathomably rich, structured by three levels of phenomenology, and that much seen content is inaccessible to use, report, or memory. |
Abstract
Many hold that visual experience is sparse and its richness illusory, relying on high-level summaries rather than detailed content. However, we argue here that seeing is more than this - it is unfathomably rich. We distinguish three levels of visual phenomenology: high level object and scene categorizations; mid-level feature groupings; and a fundamental spatial field composed of spots and their spatial relations. Crucially, we argue that seeing objects requires seeing the groupings that compose them, and that seeing groupings requires seeing the spatial field that grounds them. Even the most basic feeling of spatial extendedness implies rich phenomenal structure. It follows that much of what we see cannot be used, reported, or remembered. And yet we see it.