How can you be in a pitch black room, close your eyes, and see grey?

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Why is the blackness of my room darker when my eyes are open than when they are closed? When falling asleep last night in my pitch black room, I noticed that when I closed my eyes there was a grey-ness, instead of the same black that I saw when my eyes were open. There were no prominent light sources in my room and the windows were entirely blacked out. Please explain!

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4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

While I can’t offer a scientific explanation for a 5yo, I can contribute this…

I’ve recently gone completely blind in 1 eye: no light perception whatsoever. And I can tell you that what I see is not black, it’s gray. It’s not affected by light, or heat, or anything…it’s just solid gray, all the time.

My brain actually tricks itself sometimes and I feel like I can see color or light or movement, but when I cover my “good” eye, it’s quickly evident that I am, in fact, still blind.

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