
When Iâm birdwatching, I have a particular experience all too frequently. Fellow birders will point to the tree canopy and ask if I can see a bird hidden among the leaves. I scan the treetops with binoculars but, to everyoneâs annoyance, I see only the absence of a bird.
Our mental worlds are lively with such experiences of absence, yet itâs a mystery how the mind performs the trick of seeing nothing. How can the brain perceive something when there is no something to perceive?
For a neuroscientist interested in consciousness, this is an alluring question. Studying the neural basis of ânothingâ does, however, pose obvious challenges. Fortunately, there are other â more tangible â kinds of absences that help us get a handle on the hazy issue of nothingness in the brain. Thatâs why I spent much of my PhD studying how we perceive the number zero.