How do we see??

This is a simple question and one which we may fee rather insignificant, but contains some deep secrets. Why, one would say, every child knows the answer of this one. Were we not told in biology that an image of what we see falls on the retina, and that optic nerves carries the signal from that image to the visual cortex (the back portion of the brain).

So this is what pretty much we are told, but there is a catch. The image which is formed on retina is converted into electrochemical signals and carried to the visual cortex, now how it is that these electrochemical signals (ions and neurotransmitters) are is perceived as the vivid visual imagery that we actually see. And it goes even mysterious than this, even if we granted that image is somehow mapped into corresponding electrochemical signals , what is it that  actually perceives this mapping. In popular notion we somehow implicitly assume that there is some sitting inside watching the image which is not actually the case. Now how does brain perform the feat of splitting itself in the perceiver and perceived at the same time. No one knows really!!

So next time whenever you see something, think about it – How do we actually see at all??