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Illusions of distance - Magical Realist - Nov 8, 2026
Why do things appear to get smaller and smaller the further we are from them? And not only things, but the spaces between them as well? Why do they lose their 3D quality of depth, appearing like flat pictures? And why do they appear to be moving slower? Is it because of the natural dissipative trajectory of light rays in space, tending to disperse and thin out leaving only these fading thumbnails of the originals?
Then in complete darkness, would the illusion cease, all things far and close being of equal size? If we saw everything in laser light, would distant things not shrink away as quickly? Or is there something in space itself that de-magnifies what we see the more distant it is from us? Something to do with the latent power law of 3D space, like how distance attenuates sound and gravity as well?
But why would the mere compounding of transparence upon itself affect the visibility of things just this way? By making them look smaller relative to how big they they really are, assuming that seeing them the size they are when they're close isn't just an illusion as well. Ah the eternal mysteries of optics!