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Why does our vision "swim" after we stop spinning on a wheely chair?

It's sort of like inertia of vision, if such a thing exists. Inspired by a Wheee!! session after Chemistry got boring.

Also, I had no clue how else to phrase this question.

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  • 8 years ago
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    I think it's for the same reason why we "jerk" forward after the driver suddenly hits the breaks on a vehicle. When we spin on a wheely chair, we are moving with the chair. Newton's second law says objects in motion stays in motion and what stays at rest stays at rest until some external force either forces the object to move or stop. So when we're spinning on a wheely chair, we're actually in a state of rest because we're in constant motion. When the we stop spinning because of the external force that is friction, we are dizzy because our brain is still spinning with the spinning chair. Our brains have not yet adapted to this sudden change in motion and our dizziness is the result of this. I think there are brain fluids in the parietal lobe that help us get a "feel" of our physical movements, a motion detector in a sense.

    I sure hope that made sense.

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