Plato Got Vision Totally Wrong

From the creator

Sign up to get started with Brilliant for free here: https://brilliant.org/minutephysics. You'll also save 20% off an annual subscription. We used to think our eyes could see things using something called "visual fire". This short film explains how we managed to move away from this theory and come to understand how our sight really works. Made in collaboration with MinuteEarth and Derek of Veritasium, and originally released in 2018. MinuteEarth's Channel: https://youtube.com/@minuteearth Veritasium's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/veritasium Link to Patreon Supporters: http://www.minutephysics.com/supporters/ And Facebook: http://facebook.com/minutephysics Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in a minute! Created by Henry Reich Produced by Joshua Chawner 00:00 Intro 00:12 Balor's Poisonous Eye 01:14 Paradigms 02:12 Plato: The Eye Emits "Visual Fire" 04:02 Problems & Progress 05:33 Ibn al-Haytham: The Eye Sees Light! 09:08 Kepler: The Eye's Lens 10:46 Optics and Biology 13:47 Credits & Sponsor

Published 2026-11-12 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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