Visual Processing Biases: Forward Directionality

Vision is about looking forward. You cannot see around corners. Just as you need a series of snapshots to infer time, you need a series of static images to see something from the front, side and back, from the bottom and top. But if you were an echolocator, like a bat, you would be able to perceive an object as though from all sides at once. And to imagine it. And to make predictions about the object and test your predictions….

This resonates culturally. Visual field creates a forward vector (the gaze direction), and visual-dominant cultures privilege explicit, direct communication – saying what you mean, looking people in the eye, "getting to the point." By contrast, non-visual cultures rely more on omnidirectional awareness, reading context, subtle cues, indirectness: the imposing of form rather than the revelation of form.