Do you look or do you see?

[SeaCat]

On several occasions here people have mentioned that I seem to see things that aren't there. I replied that I just notice things others don't. Then today it was shown to me just how little people who say they are looking really notice.

My wife and I had gone to a local Home Improvement store to pick up a couple of things. In the parking lot we met up with a friend of mine who happens to be a cop. As we were walking towards the store I stopped, bent down and picked up a $20.00 bill he and his wife had walked past. They looked at me in surprise.

After we had gotten inside I asked my friend if he had happened to notice the Iguanna's outside. He just looked at me blankly so back outside we went. It took a minute or so of me pointing them out before they saw the lizards hanging out in the trees, then they just stood there in shock because they had walked right past five of the not so little beasties.

I'm always amazed at how unobservant people are. I have never been able to understand this.

So what catagory do you fall into? Do you look or do you truly see?

Cat

 

[jomar]

I believe I see most of the time. But I've no doubt there are times when I just look.

 

[MagicaPractica]

So what catagory do you fall into? Do you look or do you truly see?

Cat

I fully admit that I don't rely on my eyes and will miss things. Mostly because i've had glasses since the third grade and not worn them much of the time, and for other reasons I won't get into. I would be surprised if I missed those things however.

 

[only_more_so]

On several occasions here people have mentioned that I seem to see things that aren't there. I replied that I just notice things others don't. Then today it was shown to me just how little people who say they are looking really notice.

My wife and I had gone to a local Home Improvement store to pick up a couple of things. In the parking lot we met up with a friend of mine who happens to be a cop. As we were walking towards the store I stopped, bent down and picked up a $20.00 bill he and his wife had walked past. They looked at me in surprise.

After we had gotten inside I asked my friend if he had happened to notice the Iguanna's outside. He just looked at me blankly so back outside we went. It took a minute or so of me pointing them out before they saw the lizards hanging out in the trees, then they just stood there in shock because they had walked right past five of the not so little beasties.

I'm always amazed at how unobservant people are. I have never been able to understand this.

So what catagory do you fall into? Do you look or do you truly see?

Cat

Reminds me of the movie "Without a Clue" where the real detective half of the pair is Watson. Basically he hired an actor to be the detective because being a detective isn't suitable work for a doctor (or some such).

Anyway, there is a scene where the press are asking Holmes (the actor) how he solved the crime when Scotland Yard had seen the same evidence. So Holmes says something like, "I don't just look, I see." The press is baffled so Holmes grabs one of the reporters and covers his eyes. He then asks if the man had been up and down the street before, which the reporter had. Then Holmes asks if the building has windows, then how many windows. The reporter of course has no idea. "Elementary!" When they get inside Watson starts yelling at Holmes for saying such stupid things. Then asks Holmes how many windows there are, "Haven't the foggiest idea."

As for me... I'd say I'm above average, but it depends. Some days I have trouble finding my shoes, other days I see the birds in the trees.

 

[rgraham666]

I'm often in the see category. I'm pretty sure I observe a lot of what goes on around me. Ears help too. Often I'll hear something before I see it.

But I did walk into a telephone pole once, so I shouldn't brag.

 

[sr71plt]

I was career-trained to see, but now that comes and goes--probably mostly goes.

 

[starrkers]

Sometimes I see, sometimes I look. Sometimes I'm just flabbergasteed at how little others see...

Driving home one evening I saw a $50 note fluttering on the road on a roundabout. A block later I managed to convince my husband to go back. It was still there. Lots of other cars had gone through that roundabout and there were several people walking on the footpath too. It wasn't dark.
We came away $50 richer.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I see a lot. Of course there are times when I just look, but the joys of seeing keep me at it.

One evening, there were three vapor trails going exactly east-west, and the sun was setting. I stopped the kids as we walked home, and we watched the eastern end of those trails darken, and the darkness move westward. I told the kids that what we were watching was the Earth's shadow-- our own earth rolling like a ball, towards the east, moving us into shadow.

"Wow lady!" I heard, and a couple of working guys were standing there, gaping upwards next to us. "Are you a science teacher or somethin'?" they wanted to know.

Hearing is good too. During one job that I had, where I worked in the quiet back room, I once started laughing at a mockingbird. My boss jumped-- he hadn't been listening, and didn't know why I had chuckled. I walked him out the door and pointed out the bird, perched on top of a telephone pole, singing, squawking, sometimes leaping straight up in the air with the joy of his song.

My boss was watching the bird-- I was watching this man's face, as it relaxed and lost its pinched worried expression for a while. It was a lovely sight.

 

[TE999]

Being detail oriented, I often notice interesting things that other people pass by. Spiders and their webs, lizards and geckos stalking prey, birds nests in bushes and the occasional coin or bill.

 

[jomar]

Being detail oriented, I often notice interesting things that other people pass by. Spiders and their webs, lizards and geckos stalking prey, birds nests in bushes and the occasional coin or bill.

Detail oriented. I suspect the seers are a bit compulsive and have really good (measurably so) attention to detail skills. I don't think it's a zen thing. But I do think some are a bit paranoid. Not us, though.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I try to see, and every now and then I do see, but most of the time I am looking around unsuccessfully.

 

[Vermilion]

Do you know what? I see and notice things other people wouldn't, but completely miss the big details in the process.

Like, I'd notice something about a person in a car, but would completely miss what kind or colour of car they were in. Does that make sense?

x
V

 

[IsabellaKing]

I'm an all seer - married to an all seer. We can be driving along the road and he'll mention the rabbit in the field or an odd registration plate or the strange behaviour of a guy we just passed, knowing that I'll have seen it to, but people travelling with us look at us as if we're speaking a different language.

And along the same lines...how the hell can we believe what's written in history books?

 

[christabelll]

seer - constantly pointing out the deer, the osprey's, the odd flying critter... The leaves turning over heralding rain and the odd bill on the ground ...

But Like Milly - I'll notice all this other stuff and not see the curb I just tripped over because I was listening to a cardinal sing its heart out and trying to find where its stashed itself...

For me though - I look, I see but a lot of what I react to is so completely visceral that it appears to be "second sight" or "instinct".

 

[oggbashan]

Seer - but I think that is down to the training I received from the Boy Scout movement.

I see things when I'm driving that my wife, sitting in the front passenger seat, doesn't see.

I see lost property on the ground and birds in the air.

Once, on a long day's pony trek (cart-house for Og, of course) one of the women lost a watch. I found it on our return journey after 10 miles and several pints of ale.

Og

PS. They told me the cart-horse was a warhorse bred to carry a knight in armour. The fluffy feet and horse-brasses gave them the lie...

 

[jomar]

Detail oriented. I suspect the seers are a bit compulsive and have really good (measurably so) attention to detail skills. I don't think it's a zen thing. But I do think some are a bit paranoid. Not us, though.

I take it back. There absolutely can be a zen thing to seeing - mindfulness.

 

[ms.read]

When I'm in panic mode , I tend to observe more and pick up more detail , then regular every day life.

 

[The_Fool]

That is where the good writing comes from. When you see what you are looking at. When you find original in the commonplace.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

That is where the good writing comes from. When you see what you are looking at. When you find original in the commonplace.

I'm with him.

I've always had a thing about seeing as opposed to looking. Not many people take the time to really see things.....they miss the beauty and that is sad.

 

[Nirvanadragones]

I see too much. I see the singular, the plural, the detail, the bigger picture, the deeper meaning. I see from each possible angle, and then some. I see with a slant. And then I try and see it in ways others could possibly see it.

Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it complicates.

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

a favorite quote...

"I close my eyes in order to see."
-Paul Ganguin


I'm afraid that I often look. However, I tend to see philosophical reflections of simple things. So, while I may miss that lost $20 bill, I walk away with material for a poem or painting.

-Sheila

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

I see too much. I see the singular, the plural, the detail, the bigger picture, the deeper meaning. I see from each possible angle, and then some. I see with a slant. And then I try and see it in ways others could possibly see it.

Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it complicates.

I had to chuckle when reading your post.

ditto.

 

[impressive]

I feel.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

It differs for me. Sometimes it's one, sometimes the other. I did find money in the movie theater's parking lot once. $20.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

It really depends on what I'm viewing. If it's something I find compelling, I see it totally and in great, fine detail. If it's something I find banal, I look right through it usually.