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Started by Hannah Kim (@hannahk_ux) ·

the second hand freezes when you first look at a clock

6 sources · 36 min down the hole

How I got here

Started with
Why does the first second on a clock seem longer when I glance at it?
Ended at
Filling-in

The Trail

  1. “why does the second hand stop when you look at a clock” (google.com)
  2. Chronostasis (en.wikipedia.org)
  3. Saccade (en.wikipedia.org)
  4. Saccadic masking (en.wikipedia.org)

    you're effectively blind during every quick eye movement and never notice

  5. Blind spot (vision) (en.wikipedia.org)
  6. Filling-in (en.wikipedia.org)

What I came away with

During a fast eye movement the brain suppresses vision, then backfills the gap with what you saw when your eyes landed, so the first tick seems to last longer. The blind spot works similarly: each eye has a hole where the optic nerve leaves, and the brain paints over it.

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