On The Lionel Show: Thursday, November 5, 2009 CE

Proem. A man cannot become an atheist merely by wishing it. (Napoleon Bonaparte)

The eyes have it. Mark Changizi wrote The Vision Revolution: How the Latest Research Overturns Everything We Thought We Knew About Human Vision.

Primates evolved binocular vision (both eyes facing forward) so that they can see in three dimensions, critical as they jumped from branch to branch. Higher primates developed color vision to better hunt out ripe fruit. Optical illusions succeed because they exploit the limitations of our visual processing. Wrong!
All of these beliefs are false, as groundbreaking research by evolutionary scientist and neurobiologist Mark Changizi now reveals. Changizi's research centers on the "why" of human vision. Why do we have binocular vision? Why do we see in color the way we do? Why do optical illusions work? And why are we able to absorb information by reading―a very new invention from an evolutionary perspective―more readily than by hearing, which we've evolved to do over hundreds of thousands of years?

The Vision Revolution answers these questions, and proves, with the detailed results of Changizi's fieldwork, that the answers are very different than traditionally believed. A radically new perspective of human vision is now emerging. The Vision Revolution is upon us.

Admit it, you watched it and loved it. Steve Blanchard plays Charles "Pa" Ingalls in LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL. It is currently touring the country and is being met with huge success due, I believe, to its basic goodness. It's a true story and is as Americana as Americana can be. Amazing. A story pre-Twitter, pre-texting. Imagine that. I saw it and will readily admit loved it. Blanchard is a pro's pro and discusses with me the rigors of acting and how this piece is timeless.

Dauphins, scions and heirs apparent. Doug Wead is a presidential historian and New York Times bestselling author.  He has been an advisor to two American presidents and served in the White House as special assistant to the president under George Herbert Walker Bush. In 1979 he co-founded Mercy Corps, which has distributed more than $1.5 billion of food and medicine around the world. In his blog he writes Adherents: A bigoted website? He also wrote All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families.