Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Could it be possible to be near-blind in daylight yet see perfectly at night?

+0
−0

The question is fairly straightforward but to put a bit of context:

(Slice of life): I've often noticed how even though my eyesight really isn't great* I still somehow manage seeing a lot better at night than most people. I've often wondered why that is...
*(myopia, dry eyes, add laser surgery and myopia again 'gah')

Context:
In a fantasy/sci-fi world I'm currently working on, a civilization lives near a very bright star. My idea is that this civilization evolves to preserve eyesight by almost blinding itself from the light of the star (see it as a kind of biological super squinting of some sort - or an equivalent), this evolutionary instinct is triggered in any environment where there is an abundance of light. However when they stop 'super squinting', they can see extremely well with very little light - I'm not closed to the idea of them seeing in pitch darkness but the idea is that they do need light to see, and they can distinguish colors as well as us (although possibly differently) etc...

Additional Information:
Reference
So I found this page, I'm not knowledgeable enough on the subject to be able to certify it but it seemed legit to me. As such, what I'd be interested is basically a humanoid life-form that while having terribly crappy photopic eyesight - they'd have very advanced/developed mesopic/scotopic eyesight, including the ability to distinguish colors well (even though that is in contradiction), all of which due to the brightness of the star their homeworld orbits, like previously stated.

(Let alone if it's possible)
How could a life form that is mostly blind in daylight see perfectly with very little light?

Let me know if more info is needed on the setting but I'm pretty open-minded. (Although I would prefer actual science than handwaving, I'm pretty good at that on my own :P )

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/28351. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

0 answers

Sign up to answer this question »