Yep Mine SUCK

My observation skills concerning my surroundings suck. My hubby marvels at my ability to tune out my environment. He shakes his head at my mastery of walking by the same singleton black sock everyday that sits beside my bed. I don't know how much of that is my lack of observation or just plain laziness but I am able to block it out of my vision. My girlfriend confirmed my tune out abilities when we went on a long distance drive together. She raptly paid attention to the scenery pointing out this animal or that bird to me to only hear me say: "What blah blah blah.... I didn't see it!" Now if I was the driver I could understand the lack of attention but oddly I was the passenger.

Who Dunnit?

To illustrate this point I found a fun very short video that tests your observation skills; it's a small parody of the board game Clue called WhoDunnit. Let's see how you do!

Did you notice any differences?

1. I didn't realize right from the get-go the first picture they used to illustrate the video gives you a foreshadowing of what happens in the video.
2. I was so focused on being able to pick out the perpetrator that I didn't take notice of the setting changing. I struggle with murder mysteries for this exact reason. The only thing that struck me odd was the knight in shining armor. WOW!

So why did I only notice the information in the video? The answer is simple and that's because I really don't care to know. If I had a passion for observation and wanted to hone that skill then my ability would naturally increase. My husband is a prime example of that for one of his mottos is to have your "head on a swivel". Often we would be out shopping or whatever and he is constantly pointing out observations that could hinder our safety for he is trained to notice these anomalies. Now if we are talking about noticing emotional information and processing the corresponding feelings that's a different story. I absolutely thrive on honing my skills in this area for it's my heart's desire to understand why my reality is the way it is and how I contribute to that creation.

4 Billion Bits

One of my favorite movies that continually challenges my level of understanding is "What the BLEEP do we know!? One of my favorite scientists, Dr. Candace Pert in the movie shares that "we are bombarded by huge amounts of information and it's coming into our body, and we're processing it - coming in through our sense organs and it's percolating up and up and at each step we're eliminating information... and finally what is bubbling up to consciousness is the one that's the most self serving."

Excuse me? What's this self serving business? Isn't what I see in my private life the entire picture? If what I'm seeing isn't the whole picture what is?

Another awesome movie quote is by Dr. Joseph Dispenza, D.C, "The brain process 4 billion bits of information a SECOND and we are only aware of 2000 of those. But our awareness of those 2000 bits of information are about the environment, our body and time." He goes on to say to his audience in his youtube article, rewire and evolve your brain that we bombard our brain with questions like:

• "Does your back hurt?
• Do you have a headache?
• Are you tired?
• Is it cold in here?
• Is it too bright in here?
• Is it too dark in here?
• You like the way the person sells sitting next to you
• Do you even like the person next to you?"
• How much longer is this article?

Since I learn better with pictures I've included a few here to further illustrate this point.

Here is the full spectrum of what information we see.

Jordan Gaines Lewis, Ph.D. in her article This Is How the Brain Filters Out Unimportant Details describes it this way:

"The visual system is constantly processing our surroundings. The auditory system is stimulated by all of the many miniscule sounds that compose our environment. We’re taking in all the smells around us at any given moment, and we’re constantly feeling the clothes on our skin. Even within one sensory system, there is an enormous amount of data that gets processed.

With this onslaught of input, how do we manage to not go completely insane? The key is that we pay attention to only a small proportion of that information and throw much of it away. This process is known as selective filtering or selective attention, and most people do it all the time. Imagine watching a movie at a theater. If you’re quite focused on the film, you’re probably not noticing the sound of squeaking seats, crunchy popcorn, or even the air conditioning whirring through the vents.

So we slowly start filtering out what we determine as extraneous information:

Just the beginning... 4 billion bits of info down to 2000...

Not even halfway there

Keep it coming for we are starting to make a dent

Getting closer

Here it is!!! Drum Roll Please!!!

Startling isn't it? Look at the amount of the big picture we actual discard and not keep to be part of our reality! This illustration blew my mind. You mean to tell me what comprises my current reality is only 0.0005% of the big picture? As that started to sink in it brought to mind an even more disturbing set of questions:

Why filter did I use to pick those 2000 bits?
What information am I missing?
Can I change them?
What would I like my reality to look like?

Sobering thoughts and ones we will address in our next post!

Who is the Common Guru? Here is our introductory article
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Pictures courtesy of Pixaby