BS: Can you see your nose?

Subject: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 10:59 PM

OK, this is really stupid, but, hey, that's what the BS section's for, right? So, my girlfriend and I had an "argument" (light-hearted variety) this morning, and I'm not sure how it started, or how it got to where it did, but it came down to this: She said that she couldn't see her nose. You know, unless she closed one eye. I said that's insane: I can see my nose all the time. "Two" of them, actually, slightly out of focus and transparent, and on either side of my field of vision. Likewise, I can see my cheeks, eyebrows, eyelashes, lips, etc. Here's a shitty representation of what it looks like. (Sorry, not spending more than ten minutes on something like this.) The two bulging solid bits on the bottom are my cheeks. (I guess... I'm smiling, or some shit.) That's how I've always seen things. Surely she could do this as well. No, said she.

So I checked around the web, and, sure enough, you're not supposed to see that, according to most people. I asked a few people at work today, and only one person, with a crooked nose, said he could see his, and only on the side the nose was skewed towards.

I'm guessing I have something wrong with my eyes, then. Figures.

So, yeah, anyone else see their nose?

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:05 PM

Nose, the upper part of my cheeks (not THOSE cheeks -- the ones on my face), my lips if I purse them, and more of my cheeks if I fill them with air.

I can see my entire face in a mirror, if that helps.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:11 PM

It depends on the angle you're looking at. When your eyes are looking straight ahead and forward....or upward...the nose and cheeks should not be visible at all, normally. When you angle the eyes look a bit downward, however, then you will see an out of focus nose and perhaps some indication of the cheeks too (depending on how round your cheeks are, I suppose, because I barely can see any part of mine.). When you look to the side you will see a sort of transparent image of one side of your nose, and if you close one eye, then it's not transparent anymore, it's just out of focus.

Perhaps your girlfriend tends to move her whole head up, down, or to the side when looking that way, instead of simply angling her eyes that way...? If so, then she would not tend to see the nose or cheeks.

Get her to look, but not move her head at all when she looks, and then see.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Alice
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:11 PM

Yes, can see my nose, and if I smile, the tops of my cheeks.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:24 PM

Huh. Well, I see my "two" noses (etc.) all the time: Looking straight ahead at a distant objects, eyes moving back and forth as a read the paper, looking right, looking left. They never move, disappear, or even fade. The rough representation I linked to, above, is how I always see things. How about that, then?

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:46 PM

Holy crap. All I can say, man...and don't take this the wrong way...





You must have ONE HELL OF A BIG NOSE!!!!!! ;-) Or else your eyes are bugged out on stems...



What about when you cast your eyes upward? Can you still see it then? If so, we are talkin' about a Cyrano De Bergerac level of nasal grandeur!

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Skivee
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:57 PM

The reason she probably doesn't see her nose(s) is that our brains generally process that out of the image we percieve. In the same way, you aren't aware of the frames of eyeglasses in use, or small retinal defects, or the fact that your brain has entirely flipped the image you see upside down! There's alot of natural image "photoshopping" going on.
Your hotel hallway nose is a great illustration of what most of us don't see whan we see.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:59 PM

This might help...

???

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:59 PM

Heh. It's not that big. But, yeah, it's still there, in my peripheral vision, when I look up. That's it. I'm doomed!

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Bert
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:00 AM

Read the book "My Friend Mr. Leakey", it deals with this problem.

Or paint your girlfriend's nose black, so that she can see it for herself.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:15 AM

Wow, so I am a nose-seeing freak! Great.

Oh, I shouls point out: My girlfriend can see her nose, if she really tries. I just meant that she can't see it without a bit of eye-strain. I will approach her about the nose-painting, though. :D

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:17 AM

I can see my nose and cheeks, if I think about it.

I am so near-sighted that I have been known to be scared by my own eyelashes. All of a sudden this dark, bat-like shape is out there!

When I was a kid, I used to look at things with one eye and then the other. So I've known from little on that our two eyes see colors differently. I mentioned that to my husband recently, and he was incredulous. He had never tried it in all his 55 years.

I can't believe it!

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:25 AM

Huh??? I just tried it. I don't think there's any discernable difference in color between what my left eye and right eye see. If there is, it's extremely subtle.

Lepus, it sounds to me like your nose is following you around deliberately. It could be stalking you. That could be serious. Have you considered arming yourself, just in case?

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Bert
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:29 AM

leeneia, I can believe that you see differently.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 01:38 AM

Yeah, I see colours differently in each eye, as well. And the transparent nose that's stalking me on the right is a bit drabber than the one stalking me on the left.

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 02:28 AM

I can.... it's red and peeling at the moment cos it got sunburned at the weekend.

I have a similar sort of image except that my nose appears at the bottom centre as a tiny 'blind spot' that's usually pink and nose shaped. It shows up more when the light hits it at an angle as it does today from the window. I get occasional hints of cheek at the bottom too, as I habitually look down on things.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Naemanson
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 02:35 AM

This is something my wife is always on about. She cannot see her nose even if she looks for it. She can see over the bridge to her other eyelashes. I can see my nose all the time, even when not looking for it. She wants my nose. Had to marry me to get it. Now she's got it and I am just an appendage to the nose.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: kendall
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 07:38 AM

Eyebrows, nose, cheeks and lips.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: kendall
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 07:39 AM

Oh, and my feet.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your tongue?
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 08:37 AM

I can't see my tongue. My uncle Raoul could see his. If there was a lull in the conversation he would simply dart out his tongue and quickly lick his eyebrows. He was very popular with the ladies;

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Bee
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 08:41 AM

Likely the size of the nose and the depth of the eyesockets have something to do with it. My nose is - um... robust (yeah, that's the word) and my eyes are somewhat deepset, so yes, I can see my nose if I make myself aware of it. It's not a direction one often looks unless a bee is sitting on it or summat.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: bobad
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 08:57 AM

I can see my nose if I go crosseyed, I can also touch it with my tongue.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Jeri
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 09:08 AM

I get the view in Lepus's's photo, but only if I'm wearing a bra. I can see my nose and cheeks if I squint or smile. It's got to do with peripheral vision and how aware of it you are, plus the size and protuberance of the parts. I can get a bit past 90° out to the side, my mom could see behind her to some extent. That has to translate to the area in between they eyes, above and below them.

The nose painting thing's a good idea, but black is boring.
Get one of those child-safe water color markers and do it up in a nice pretty color. She may see her nose all the time but not notice because it's never not there.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Rapparee
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 09:20 AM

Because I'm nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other, one side of my nose is in focus and the other isn't. When I look at, I mean. I assume that both sides are in focus for someone looking at me. If that's not the case one of us has a big problem.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Folk Form # 1
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 10:05 AM

I can see my nose, but then it is not small.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 10:25 AM

" I don't think there's any discernable difference in color between what my left eye and right eye see."

Try it with an objects of intense color in good light. The object that first brought it to my attention was a rose-red blanket in early-morning light.

We lose color perception with time, so kids can probably see the differences better than adults. I used to work in a fabric store, and I would often help a customer of 70 or 80 to match thread and fabric because she had lost that ability.

Women in general see color better than men do, though of course there are exceptions. It was men, of course, who named an orange and tan bird "the purple finch."

Donuel, I simply do not believe that your uncle could lick his eyebrows. Yuck!

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Jeri
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 10:53 AM

Our purple finches are red and tan and white. No orange. (Plus, I learned the purple finch is our (NH) state bird.)

I just tried comparing color vision in my eyes. The colors were just a teensy bit faded in my right eye, but then I looked in the opposite direction, with the opposite result, and figured it was the angle of light that was making the difference.

I've previously noticed the colors definitely faded in one eye before. I get migraines, and I think that might have been the cause. Eyes OK, brain not so much.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Becca72
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 11:05 AM

I can see my nose and the tops of my cheeks if I look downward and a bit less if I look straight ahead. But I have a round face so there's a lot of cheek going on...

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: JennyO
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 11:18 AM

Hmm. I've sometimes been told I've got a lot of cheek ;-)

I'm vaguely aware of my nose - it's in my peripheral vision - and can see it quite clearly when I look down - one side or the other depending on which eye I'm focusing with. If I'm smiling I can see my cheeks. I have caught sight of my eyelashes, but they are out of focus.

As for my tongue, I can't lick my eyebrows but I can touch the tip of my nose with it, and I can see it too.

I bet there isn't anybody that can see their ears.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 11:22 AM

Strange, I can see the left side of my nose, but not the right. even if I close the left eye I can't see the right side with the right eye.

Indeed, I cannot NOT see the left side of my nose, no matter how I roll the eyes or try to pay attention to certain parts of the visual field.

I do not see my cheeks, let alone eyelashes.

And since I grew a big middle, I don't see a certain lower appendage in its normal, suspended position, even if I crane my head forward with that in mind. Oh, well! I guess it's embarrassing confession time.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: Rapparee
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:35 PM

Hah! I can see my ears, both of them at the same time. I just look at my reflection (of course, I'm so overcome by the sheer beauty of me that do nothing else for hours on end).

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: GUEST,Don Firth
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 01:39 PM

See my nose? Of course!

CLICKY!

Vicomte de Valvert: Ah... Your nose... Ahem! Your nose is--rather large!
Cyrano (gravely): Rather.
Valvert (simpering): Oh well--
Cyrano (coolly): Is that all?
Valvert (turns away with a shrug): Well of course--
Cyrano: Ah no, young sir! You are too simple. Why, you might have said -- Oh a great many things! Mon dieu, why waste your opportunity? For example, thus:

AGGRESSIVE: I, sir, if that nose were mine, I'd have it amputated - on the spot!
FRIENDLY: How do you drink with such a nose? You ought to have a cup made specially.
DESCRIPTIVE: 'Tis a rock - a crag - a cape - A cape? Say rather a peninsula!
INQUISITIVE: What is that receptacle - A razor-case or a portfolio?
KINDLY: Ah, do you love the little birds so much that when they come and sing to you, you give them this to perch on?
INSOLENT: Sir, when you smoke, the neighbors must suppose your chimney is on fire.
CAUTIOUS: Take care-- A weight like that might make you top-heavy.
THOUGHTFUL: Somebody fetch my parasol-- Those delicate colors may fade in the sun!
PEDANTIC: Does not Aristophanes mention a mythological monster called hippocampelephantocamelos? Surely we have here the original!
FAMILIAR: Well, old torchlight! Hang your hat over that chandelier-- it hurts my eyes.
ELOQUENT: When it blows, the typhoon howls, and the clouds darken.
DRAMATIC: When it bleeds-- the Red Sea!
ENTERPRISING: What a sign for some perfumer!
LYRIC: Hark-- the horn of Roland calls to summon Charlemagne!--
SIMPLE: When do they unveil the monument?
RESPECTFUL: Sir, I recognize in you a man of many parts, a man of—prominence—
RUSTIC: Hey? What? Call that a nose? Na na-- I be no fool like what you think I be--That there's a blue cucumber!
MILITARY: Point against cavalry!
PRACTICAL: Why not a lottery with this for the grand prize? Or -- parodying Faustus in the play-- "Was this the nose that launched a thousand ships and burned the topless towers of Ilium?"

These, my dear sir, are things you might have said had you some tinge of letters, or of wit to color your discourse. But of wit, you never had an atom. And of letters, we need but three to write you down: A-S-S!
                                    —Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (Brian Hooker translation)

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: gnu
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 02:13 PM

Vast peripheral vision is a great adavantage and not so good. I can see directly behind me when I turn my head 40 degrees. This is because my eyeballs "protrude" from the sockets. While this is very useful in many ways, it's not so good when the early morning light tends to make you bury your face in the pillow.... it puts pressure on the eye(s) and causes them to go out of round... astigmatism and blurred vision results.

I wonder how many people are affected this way. Simple stuff, really.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: HouseCat
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 02:24 PM

gnu, it's me and you. TomCat is amazed by my peripheral vision and I'm convinced that it has made me the teacher I am today.;~)

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: gnu
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 04:07 PM

Well, when I was a young man, I could not be beat on the squash court. And, I could easily see the entire field of play when taking a handoff from the QB and decide in an instant whether to cut or drive or whatever. When I played inside cornerback or free safety on defense, I could cover runners and receivers and still watch the QB.

Now, at 50 years old, I have to carry a magnifying glass (easier than carrying reading glasses) everywhere I go. Because that "Made in China" writing is sooooo small.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: terrier
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 04:14 PM

My horse can't see his nose but my dogs can and the cats can see things that arn't really there

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 04:49 PM

Here is the Beach Boys take on this...

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: folk1e
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 06:06 PM

I can see mine!
And when I teach people to shoot at archery they can all see theirs!
Or they are good liars!!
BTW I am Astigmatic and have noticed both a slight difference in colour and angle of vision

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 06:17 PM

The expression "looking down your nose at someone" does rather imply that it's pretty universal to be able to do it.

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: frogprince
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 09:47 PM

"I don't see a certain lower appendage"
I knew another guy once who mentioned that he had that problem; we were showering after working out at the gymn when he referred to it. I said, "Did it ever occur to you to diet?"
He said, "No, not really; what color is it now?"

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: JennyO
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 05:46 AM

I'm so overcome by the sheer beauty of me that do nothing else for hours on end

Rapaire, that doesn't count as seeing your ears, when it's only a reflection. Meanwhile, I feel the urge to dedicate this little song to you:

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
When you're perfect in every way.
I can't wait to look in the mirror
'Cause I get better looking each day
To know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man.
Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
But I'm doin' the best that I can.

I used to have a girlfriend
But I guess she just couldn't compete
With all of these love starved women
Who keep clamoring at my feet.
Well I probably could find me another
But I guess they're all in awe of me
Who cares I never get lonesome
'Cause I treasure my own company.

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
When you're perfect in every way.
I can't wait to look in the mirror
'Cause I get better looking each day
To know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man.
O Lord it's hard to be humble
When I'm doin' the best that I can.

I guess you could say I'm a loner
A cowboy outlaw tough and proud
Well I could have lots of friends if I wanted
But I wouldn't stand out from the crowd
Some folks say that I'm "egotistical"
Hell I don't even know what that means
But I guess it has something to do with the
Way that I fill out my skintight blue jeans.

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
When you're perfect in every way.
I can't wait to look in the mirror
'Cause I get better looking each day, yeah
To know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man.
O Lord it's hard to be humble,
But I'm doin' the best that I can.

Yee Haw!

Subject: RE: BS: Can you see your nose?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 06:40 AM

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble