How do we manage to see images with our eyes when they are actually inverted?

We see them as we expect them to appear -right side up!

A famous psychology experiment was performed in the 1960s where subjects agreed to wear special goggles that inverted the images entering the eye and being focused on the retina. After a few days of confusion and clumsiness, these people quickly adapted to a degree where they were easily able to ride bicycles and drive cars. Everything now appeared "normal!"

When the goggles were removed, they went through a similar short period of adaptation and were quickly seeing those normally inverted images again as right-side up.

J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic