eli5: Why do we feel a sort of whiplash when we miss a step, or try to step on a stair that isn’t there, like when you’re going up a set in the dark?
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Your brain was expecting a short height change, so it accounted for it and unconsciously sent out the message “short height difference incoming, no need to worry “. Then the height difference is more than it expected, literally twice the difference. After your foot has gone through the distance expected, there’s nothing under it. Your body kinda braced itself for there to be something solid under it, but there wasn’t. So you lurch downward, and your body thinks its falling cause it actually is. It is mentally no different to the ground suddenly dropping 6 inches lower underneath you. You just fall a bit, but weren’t expecting it
Your brain expects your foot to land on a step, so it tells your body to keep moving forward. But your foot doesn’t land on a step, so your body stops moving forward. Your head and neck, however, keep moving forward because your brain hasn’t gotten the message that your body has stopped. This sudden, forceful movement of your head and neck is what causes whiplash.
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