TYCHONIC DIFFICULTIES VS. TYCHONIC ILLUSIONS
Reply to Gingerich on Cognitive-Illusion

Abstract

Owen Gingerich's (1998) commentary on Topper (1998) draws attention to the most striking aspect of "Tycho's illusion". At least for people (such as Gingerich) who are highly expert in the substantive issues a mere look at the cutout actually turning convincingly undoes a strong prior conviction. What warrants careful attention to this illusion is not only its long life (400 years), but the remarkable effectiveness of merely showing Tycho's own diagram (which prompts the illusion) in a novel way.

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References

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