Our senses don't work in isolation

The Watercooler
1

There are sights known by the eye … sounds known by the ear … smells known by the nose … tastes known by the tongue … touches known by the body …

How often do similar statements occur in the Suttas? Many times!

Do we ever read: “There are sights known by the eye and the ear”? We don’t. But this is what scientists seem to find:

Abstract

Visual object recognition is not performed in isolation but depends on prior knowledge and context. Here, we found that auditory context plays a critical role in visual object perception. Using a psychophysical task in which naturalistic sounds were paired with noisy visual inputs, we demonstrated across two experiments (young adults; ns = 18–40 in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively) that the representations of ambiguous visual objects were shifted toward the visual features of an object that were related to the incidental sound. In a series of control experiments, we found that these effects were not driven by decision or response biases (ns = 40–85) nor were they due to top-down expectations (n = 40). Instead, these effects were driven by the continuous integration of audiovisual inputs during perception itself. Together, our results demonstrate that the perceptual experience of visual objects is directly shaped by naturalistic auditory context, which provides independent and diagnostic information about the visual world.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976221121348

9 Likes
2

I think the process of perception of stimuli has been simplified by the Buddha, for purposes of teaching. There are complex cause and effect strings at play. For example how memory impacts the visual process. The above is yet another complex interaction. But they are all impermanent, unsatisfactory and not self.

3 Likes
3

Also, there are significant number of people who has more than one senses activated when the other sense senses things.

Like being able to see colours when hearing music or numbers.

2 Likes
4

It is well known in Buddhism the process of perception is views> thoughts> perceptions, that’s why right view is the first link in the NEP, right thought the second, and actual actions, the sila group. So changing perceptions depends on work on altering views.

This series also works in reverse, that is once established by view, perceptions can influence views for good or evil:

“Monks, there are these four perversions of perception, perversions of mind, perversions of view. Which four? ‘Constant’ with regard to the inconstant is a perversion of perception, a perversion of mind, a perversion of view. ‘Pleasant’ with regard to the stressful… ‘Self’ with regard to not-self… ‘Attractive’ with regard to the unattractive is a perversion of perception, a perversion of mind, a perversion of view. These are the four perversions of perception, perversions of mind, perversions of view.”—Anguttara Nikaya 4.49

This cyclic development is stated in Majhima Nikaya 117:

“One makes an effort for the abandoning of wrong view & for entering into right view: This is one’s right effort. One is mindful to abandon wrong view & to enter & remain in right view: This is one’s right mindfulness.[2] Thus these three qualities — right view, right effort, & right mindfulness — run & circle around right view.”

There are always two right views, one that is to be established in light of dhamma, and one that is already so, a current and future position. The circular process through the NEP is always feeding new views into right view.

Starvation of investigation results in no new right views:

“And what is lack of food for the arising of unarisen analysis of qualities as a factor for Awakening, or for the growth & increase of analysis of qualities… once it has arisen? There are mental qualities that are skillful & unskillful, blameworthy & blameless, gross & refined, siding with darkness & with light. Not fostering attention to them: This is lack of food for the arising of unarisen analysis of qualities as a factor for Awakening, or for the growth & increase of analysis of qualities… once it has arisen.”—Samyutta Nikaya 46.51

1 Like
5

Hmm, sounds a bit as a possible example of the Buddha’s reservation: “I know a lot more but don’t need do all that much stuff in the open curriculum”…

2 Likes
6

when the Blessed One was newly Self-awakened, he was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Nerañjara River, at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan Tree. Then, while he was alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness: “This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise.”—Samyutta Nikaya 6.1

The seven factors for awakening (including investigation) are listed under the fourth foundation of mindfulness in the Satipatthana sutta (Majhima Nikaya 10), that being described as the direct path.

8

I had a look at the academic article you have quoted here. This article concluded that ‘what we hear can influence how we perceive the visual world’ - this understanding does NOT affect Buddhist descriptions of first-person experiences at all. If we think about our first-person subjective experiences: Seeing experience can result in identifying it (i.e., perception that it is an airplane). Hearing experience can result in identifying it (i.e., perception that it is a bird). Then as a result of this, seeing experience can result in the perception that it is a bird. So, all of these arise and cease and happen due to causes - here, the hearing experience became a cause for our seeing experience to change. So, this doesn’t run contrary to the teachings of the Buddha at all, when considering how mind-related aggregates manifest moment by moment.