Perception
They see what they need to see. The deer sees the grass, the water, the wolf. It does not see the sunset. Survival has no room for sunsets.
— EdenPerception is how creatures know about their world. They can't see everything—only what their senses detect. This limited awareness shapes their behavior and survival.
The Senses
Creatures perceive the world through multiple senses:
👁️ Sight
Visual detection of the environment.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Field of View | How wide they can see (e.g., 120°) |
| Range | How far they can see |
| Peripheral | Reduced detection at edges |
What sight detects:
- Other creatures (predators, prey, herd)
- Food sources (plants, prey)
- Water bodies
- Movement
👂 Hearing
Detecting sounds in the environment.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Range | How far they can hear |
| Sensitivity | Minimum sound level to detect |
| Directional | May indicate sound source direction |
What hearing detects:
- Predator movement
- Other creature calls
- Water sounds
- Environmental sounds
👃 Smell
Detecting scents carried by air.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Range | How far scents travel |
| Sensitivity | Minimum scent to detect |
| Wind effect | Scents travel with wind |
What smell detects:
- Food (especially for predators)
- Water (can smell moisture)
- Other creatures
- Territory markers
🤚 Touch
Physical contact detection.
What touch detects:
- Damage taken
- Physical obstacles
- Other creatures (in contact)
Detection and Stimuli
The perception system works through stimuli—signals in the environment.
How Detection Works
- Source emits stimulus (creature makes sound, plant exists visually)
- Stimulus travels through environment
- Sense detects stimulus if in range and sensitivity allows
- Brain processes what was detected
- Memory stores important detections
- Behavior responds to detection
The Three Layers of Perception
Creatures process stimuli through three layers:
| Layer | Question | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Sensory Channel | How was it perceived? | Visual, Sound, Smell, Touch, Damage, Movement |
| Semantic Content | What was perceived? | Food, Water, Animal, Visual details |
| Memory Category | What does it mean? | Threat, Resource, Entity, Location |
Stimulus Types (Sensory Channels)
| Type | Detected By | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Visual | Sight | Seeing another creature |
| Sound | Hearing | Hearing movement |
| Smell | Smell | Detecting food scent |
| Touch | Touch | Physical contact |
| Damage | Touch | Being attacked |
| Movement | Sight | Detecting motion |
What Stimuli Contain
Each detected stimulus carries additional information:
- Food: Nutrition value, food type, whether it's consumable
- Water: Volume available
- Animal: Species type, size, whether it's a threat
- Visual: Color, size of the object
The rabbit does not see the hawk. But it hears the silence where birdsong should be. Sometimes what's missing is the loudest warning.
— EdenAttention and Memory
Not everything detected is remembered. Creatures have a sophisticated memory system:
Short-Term Memory (STM)
Recent detections that fade quickly:
- Lasts for the creature's attention span (typically a few seconds)
- Affects immediate behavior and decisions
- Fades unless the stimulus is important or frequent
Promoting to Long-Term Memory
Stimuli move from short-term to long-term memory when:
- Strength threshold: The stimulus was strong enough (important)
- Frequency threshold: The creature encountered it multiple times
Long-Term Memory (LTM)
Important memories that persist:
- Stored with a category (Threat, Resource, Entity, Location)
- Includes the last known location
- Tracks how many times the creature encountered it
- Decays over time unless reinforced
Memory Categories
| Category | What It Stores | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Threat | Dangerous things | Where damage was received |
| Resource | Useful things | Food sources, water locations |
| Entity | Other creatures | Other animals, large objects |
| Location | Important places | Safe areas, home territory |
Spatial Memory
Creatures also remember where they've been:
- Track visited terrain tiles
- Limited capacity (oldest memories forgotten first)
- Helps with navigation and exploration
Perception in Action
Example: Deer Detects Predator
- Wolf moves → Creates visual and sound stimuli
- Deer's sight → Detects visual in range and FOV
- Detection processed → "Predator" identified
- Memory checked → "Wolf = danger"
- Behavior triggered → Flee response
- Herd alerted → Social response spreads detection
Example: Finding Water
- Deer is thirsty → Hunger behavior active
- Memory checked → "Water was at stream"
- Movement begins → Toward remembered location
- Sight confirms → Water still there
- Approach → Move to water
- Drink → Need satisfied
Example: Predator Stalking
- Wolf is hungry → Hunt behavior active
- Smell detects → Deer scent upwind
- Direction determined → Move toward scent
- Sight confirms → Deer visible
- Stalking begins → Careful approach
- Detection risk → Deer might see/hear wolf
Limitations of Perception
Creatures don't have perfect awareness:
Blind Spots
- Behind them (no eyes in back)
- Beyond range
- Blocked by terrain/obstacles
- Outside field of view
False Security
- No detection ≠ no danger
- Predators can be stealthy
- Scent blocked by wind direction
- Silent threats exist
Overwhelmed Senses
- Too many stimuli to process all
- Important things might be missed
- Confusion in chaotic situations
The mouse believes the meadow is safe because it sees no owl. The owl believes the mouse is unaware because the mouse hasn't run. Both are gambling on perception.
— EdenSpecies Differences
Different creatures perceive differently:
Bees
| Sense | Strength |
|---|---|
| Sight | Wide FOV (300°), detect flowers and colors |
| Smell | Excellent, detect nectar over distance |
| Touch | Navigate flowers and hive |
Optimized for: Finding and remembering food sources, hive navigation
Squirrels
| Sense | Strength |
|---|---|
| Sight | Wide FOV (270°), good motion detection |
| Hearing | Excellent, primary warning sense |
| Smell | Good, detects food and predators |
Optimized for: Finding food, detecting threats, remembering cache locations
Deer
| Sense | Strength |
|---|---|
| Sight | Wide field of view, good motion detection |
| Hearing | Excellent, primary warning sense |
| Smell | Good, detects threats upwind |
Optimized for: Detecting threats from any direction
Insects
| Sense | Strength |
|---|---|
| Sight | Very wide FOV (300°), short range |
| Hearing | Excellent sensitivity |
| Smell | Limited |
Optimized for: Detecting immediate threats, simple navigation
Perception and Survival
Perception directly affects survival:
Good Perception
- Detect threats early → More time to flee
- Find food efficiently → Less energy searching
- Remember resources → Less randomness
- Avoid dangers → Longer life
Poor Perception
- Late threat detection → Less escape time
- Miss food sources → More hunger
- Forget locations → More searching
- Walk into danger → Shorter life
Watching Perception
As a Witness, you can observe perception in action:
Visual Cues
- Creature's head direction = what they're looking at
- Alert posture = something detected
- Ear movement = listening
- Sniffing = smell detection
Behavioral Signs
- Sudden direction change = detection event
- Freezing = processing threat
- Fleeing = confirmed danger
- Approaching = detected resource
Following Your Wanderer
When following a Wanderer:
- See what they detect
- Understand their awareness
- Notice what they miss
- Experience their perspective
When you follow the deer through the forest, you begin to see with deer eyes. The bush is not a bush—it is a possible wolf. The stream is not a stream—it is a vulnerable moment of drinking. Everything becomes survival math.
— EdenContinue learning: