For most of my life, I never quite “got it” about the night sky. It was pretty, but not THAT different away from cities.
I only recently learned that visual snow syndrome is a thing, and that most people don’t have it. For me, there is a faint background of multicolor static (analog TV on a dead channel, for those who remember that) on everything, all the time. Light washes it out, so it’s only in the deep dark that I’m absolutely surrounded by it. (It’s basically visual tinnitus, which in turn lead me to discover that I’ve also had auditory tinnitus my whole life, it’s just a soft static not a “ringing” so I never realized it was the same phenomenon.)
I still think everyone sees a noisy image in the dark if they pay attention. Simply because the retina is underexposed. "Visual snow" usually refers to a more extreme condition where you see it even in good lighting.
Maybe you just don't notice it? It's most noticable in a dark, but not completely dark, room when the eyes got accustomed to the darkness.
To clarify, a similar case: most people are able to see Haidinger's Brush [1], even if they have never noticed it. Why? Because it's not very noticable, so they don't pay attention to it.
thaeli · · focus · HN ↗
I only recently learned that visual snow syndrome is a thing, and that most people don’t have it. For me, there is a faint background of multicolor static (analog TV on a dead channel, for those who remember that) on everything, all the time. Light washes it out, so it’s only in the deep dark that I’m absolutely surrounded by it. (It’s basically visual tinnitus, which in turn lead me to discover that I’ve also had auditory tinnitus my whole life, it’s just a soft static not a “ringing” so I never realized it was the same phenomenon.)
jamilton · · focus · HN ↗
I don't think I notice it that much with the night sky unless the stars are faint though.
cubefox · · focus · HN ↗
RugnirViking · · focus · HN ↗
cubefox · · focus · HN ↗
To clarify, a similar case: most people are able to see Haidinger's Brush [1], even if they have never noticed it. Why? Because it's not very noticable, so they don't pay attention to it.
1: <a href="https://www.polarization.com/haidinger/haidinger.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.polarization.com/haidinger/haidinger.html