darkness....what is it?

[hattster]

were does the dark go to when you switch on the light, what is darkness? Does it exist or is it an environment that is missing light?

[Loosehead]

Darkness is a relative term based on the visible/invisible parts of the spectrum. Our eyes are senstive to what we call visible light the absence of which we perceive as darkness.

[Calvesy]

Terry Pratchet wrote "As fast as light travels it is always surprised to find that the darkness got there first."

The darkness is always there - between every photon!

[Thunderchild]

darkness is the absence of visible light so realy it is not right to say that room is dark but that room has no light. we often think of cold in the same way like it is something tangeble whereas realy it is the absence of heat

[Gef]

Lights don't actually emit anything - they are dark sookers and remove darkness, hence light. :-)

[JOEYSHABADO]

You can't sense darkness properly.

Light is sensed by the action of photons on certain receptors on the retina, passed back through the optic nerve to the visual cortex.

No cell on this pathway has a resting state of 'Zero'. You cannot properly sense darkness as the blackness it probably is.

[JOEYSHABADO]

If light did not exist, your eyes would not exist. Isn't that weird? We forget it, but eyes and their precursors only came to being because some organisms found it a handy way of getting around and spotting things that wanted to eat them. And we refined it a bit. But they didn't originate to 'see things'.

[JOEYSHABADO]

sorry, maybe i should explain 'resting state of zero'. what i meant is that the action that occurs in your brain as a result of light hitting your eye, occurs in your brain (in the cells) to some extent without light even acting on you.

Cover your eyes with your hands. Don't look so dark, does it? Looks more like the end to 'Doctor who' from way back.

[JOEYSHABADO]

Is darkness really a relative term? Absence of light = absolute?

[peters cute]

gd qwestion mmmmmmmm all i can think off is the sun well with out it will be all dead noooooooooo

[Bonzo 2000]

A really good question!  I remember hearing a mind-blowing thing from a friend's brother who was blind in one eye.  I say this with all due defference to blind people and those who know much more about it than I do.  He explained that the type of blindness experienced depends on the type of defect causing the blindness.  If the eye is defective or injured, the functioning brain still seeks a signal from the eye, but only perceives darkness - like a working TV, but without an aerial. However, if the defect lies in the brain (which, in his case it did) and it is unable to detect anything from an eye, it cannot even detect darkness.  The mind blowing part for me was when he said that he could see as much out of his hand or foot as he could out of his bad eye.  Try putting your hand under your desk, or round a corner or anywhere and what does it see? - not even darkness.  In summary, he said that closing your eyes was nowhere near to simulating blindness.  I truly hope I have not offended or upset anyone with this, but find it an amazing concept to grasp.

[JOEYSHABADO]

No, you didn't offend anyone. If you want to keep filling out your answer, do so. It's the best answer I've read on answerbank.

[JOEYSHABADO]

I also find the idea that you don't just use your eyes for 'seeing things' pretty amazing.

[UsAndStuff]

Nice easy one this one.
The darkness hides in the shadows ;-)

[SeanVictorydawn]

This is a question that's been asked to greek philoshopher Democritus around 2 and a half thousand years ago. Democritus is known as the formulator of the Atomic Theory for the Universe, and the theory of 8 basic elements in Nature : It is 4 against 4, like two armies in war : Water, Soil, Ice, Darkness vs. Electricity, Air, Fire, Light. In today's world in 2013, all the 7 water, soil, ice, electricity, fire, air, light are controlled and can be manipulated easily. But Darkness!!! Because the Bible and all the other God's Holy Scriptures ban the use of Darkness, which is a matter of casting spells and doing bad things, Human Societies who believes in God don't use, don't control and don't manipulate Darkness for more than 2500 years, all because in the Holy Books, its written that it will only bring calamity and bad luck to you if you use the powers of Darkness.
So as a result: When we see the Darkness running away from Light, when switched on, it means that Humans use the powers of Light, against the stable Darkness. But think about when does actually Darkness uses its powers against Light? A normal person who believes in God, or who doesn't believe in God(but doesn't fight with God) , can't see the Darkness in active use. But a magician, a clairvoyant, a psychic or whatever, they are vulnerable to attack by Darkness.