Schlagwort-Archive: Seeing

What I do not know I care to

Peter Drucker has pointed out that you can only control what you measure. Today we are overwhelmed by numbers, data, and facts. More than 3.7 million patents are registered every year – many in the field of digitalization and medicine. At the same time, not all information reaches us, either because they are not collected, published, or even withheld. The innumerable observations provide different facts, which means that it is up to us to decide what we believe. Since there is always justified doubt about the data, the apparent freedom of expression is of no use. Not only are our own opinions expressed in an aggravating manner, but other points of view are actively falsified and defamed. Too many use the media for the targeted manipulation of the masses. We must learn to deal with the unsettling flood of stimuli, to leave our own filter bubble and to take an interest in other stances. It is not skillful to close one’s eyes: What I do not know I should care to.

Our human data processing is genetically adapted to hunting and gathering. We are programmed to instinctively detect hazards, such as poisonous plants, dangerous animals, and places. We are not prepared for today’s dangers, the simple mechanisms of manipulation: e.g. said is considered done; repetition seem to confirm statements; emotions, especially fears, anchor for a longer time; incomplete alternatives limit reality to themselves. Since dealing with today’s virtual world is not something we were born with, we have to learn to deal with it for the foreseeable future. This article deals with the first hurdle on the way out of the victim role: the conditions of visual perception.

  • You can only see when you look
    The eyes are on the front part of our head. This means that the gaze falls in the direction, in which we move or turn our head. Most of the 214° of our field of vision, we see blurred. The area, where we see sharply, covers only 1.5°. Everything outside the field of view, we do not see. To make sure that we miss nothing, our eyes move unnoticed across the scenery, i.e. the reality or pictures. For the invisible part, we have an additional channel that attracts our attention, the ears, so that we can direct our gaze in the appropriate direction.
    Without looking, we see nothing.
  • You only see when you find
    Since the mass of data that reaches our eyes is blurred, it is imperative that something attracts so much attention that we focus on it. Interest is aroused by contrasts, deviations, but also uniformity (e.g. when we expect deviations). Contrasts are created when complementary colors, color saturation and different brightness levels appear side by side. This also applies to lines and shapes that break certain pattern. These deviations can appear statically or dynamically in the field of vision. In addition to these spontaneous triggers, we find something, because we consciously search for it, e.g. a certain house in the skyline. However, we do not only find it consciously, but also unconsciously. When we, for example, skim over a text, certain key words are not processed immediately, but only after we turned the page, we feel that we have seen something interesting and scroll back to consciously search for it. These unconsciously detected impressions remain available for a long time but are difficult to activate.
    Without finding, we see nothing.
  • You only see what you recognize
    A good example of recognition are abstract paintings, such as Malevich’s famous painting Viereck (Square) from 1915, in which a black square is shown against a white background. Some will know the explanation and others will simply see a black square. All that remains in our memory is what we recognize in the picture, derive from it, and take away as a memory. This applies to modern art, to business and private life. We only remember, consciously or unconsciously, those things that we recognize or that we can assign to a certain category. The carnival parade and the procession of the thousand warriors in Japan can only be distinguished, if we can classify them accordingly – all the others see nothing more than a large group of people walking in conspicuous masquerade.
    Without recognition, we see nothing.
  • You only seem when you change perspective
    The visual impression is always in competition with the next. If we drive with a sightseeing bus through Paris, then we turn our heads all the time, as there are landmarks everywhere. And by looking at the Eiffel Tower for a longer time, we quickly miss the Seine panorama or the Trocadero. Not until we detach our gaze from a view, we have the chance to see something else. During a trip, one misses so fast many specialties. According to this, remaining in always the same echo chamber generates only the confirmation of what we already know. Only if you leave the filter bubble, you have the chance to learn something new – even, if you run the risk of destroying your own world view.
    Without changing the perspective, we see nothing.

Bottom line: The problems of opinion formation already begin with the visual perception that filters our world view before we get into the realm of fake news. On the one hand, vision is not adjusted to the sensory overload, we are exposed to today. On the other hand, what we see does not provide a comprehensive impression of what is happening, since we only perceive a part of the world at a time. If we were able to absorb everything that is presented to our eyes, we would go nuts and become unlivable. For this reason, we should develop a conscious relationship to our perception: We only see, when we look and find and recognize, until we change our perspective. The more people observe a situation, the more descriptions we get – with matching, additional and contradictory insights. In spite of the difficulties of the different statements, all impressions should always be collected and considered, as this gives a more comprehensive overall picture. The same should be applied by modifying the old saying: What I do not know, I care to.

What I don’t know won’t hurt me

Peter Drucker has shown that you can only steer what you have measured. This has led to the fact that today we are overwhelmed by facts and figures. More than 3.7 million patents are registered every year – many in the field of digitalization and medicine. At the same time, we do not have ALL the information. On the one hand, one cannot or do not want to gather it, for whatever reason. On the other hand, data is collected, but due to certain conditions, it never reaches the light of day. Be it that someone decides that the data of certain facts are of no importance to the public or for reasons of secrecy. Despite this incompleteness, so much data is published that countless perspectives are available, which means that we have to decide, which one we focus on. Today, on 04/20/2020, German corona numbers are given by the Robert Koch Institute with 141,672 infected people and at the same time by the Johns Hopkins University with 145,742 infected people. If we had other official sources, there would be additional numbers. This is not so much a matter of the evaluation qualities but due to small differences in the definitions, collections, interpretations, processing’s, etc. Such deviations are unsettling. Instead of learning to adjust to this fuzzy information overload, some people are against these figures and think: What I don’t know won’t hurt me.

Our human data processing is genetically adapted to hunting and gathering. We are programmed to instinctively detect hazards, such as poisonous plants, dangerous animals and places. Therefore, we must learn to deal with the virtual environment for the foreseeable future. As a starting point, we take a look at the specifics of how we recognize something.

  • You can only see, when you look at it
    The eyes are on the front of our head. This means that the sight goes in the direction in which we move or turn our head. Most of the 214° of our visual field we see blurred. The area where we see sharply is only 1.5°. Everything outside the field of view we do not To make sure that we still don’t miss anything, our eyes permanently wander around. You are reading this text and at the same time you are taking your surroundings into account. As soon as something moves in the blurred areas, we take a look. For the invisible part we have, for example, the ears, which draw our attention with sounds and trigger us to turn the view in this direction. Without the visual recording through the eyes, we have seen nothing.
  • You only see, when you find
    Since the mass of data that reaches our eyes is blurred, we need to focus on it in order to be able to recognize something. Contrasts, deviations, and also uniformity arouse interest. Contrasts are created when complementary colors, different color saturations and brightness appear side by side. This also applies to lines and shapes that disturb a certain pattern. These deviations can be static or dynamic in the field of vision. In addition to these spontaneous triggers, we find something because we consciously search for it, e.g. a certain house in the skyline. However, we are not only finding consciously, but also unconsciously. If, for example, we skim over a text, we are not immediately aware of certain key words, but only after turning the page, we get the feeling that something interesting was there, and we now read this page again but slower with more attention. These unconsciously found impressions remain available for a long time. However, they are difficult to reactivate. Without the conscious discovery, we have seen nothing.
  • You only see, what you recognize
    A good example of recognition are abstract pictures. Those interested in art will recognize the famous painting Black Square where a black square is shown above a white background, as having been painted by Malevich in 1915. And some will know the explanation and others will see only a black square. Remembered is only what each individual recognizes, deduces from the picture and stores over the long run. In everyday life, things are no different. We only remember, consciously or unconsciously, the facts that we recognize or can place in our categories – possible categories are: Never seen before; What is that? I do not like it. Without being able to assign what we have seen to a category we have seen nothing.
  • One only sees, until one sees the next
    The visual impression is always in competition with the next. If one drives with a bus through Paris, then we turn our heads all the time, as there are landmarks everywhere. And by looking at the Eiffel Tower for a longer time, we easily miss the Seine panorama or the Trocadero. Only when our eyes break up with a view, one has the chance to see something else. During a trip, so many impressions happen quickly that most of them are often not well remembered. And some special features may be overseen. If somebody photographs everything, then one has a lot of material in order to have a closer look at it later but misses the opportunity to experience the area on the spot. Without releasing the view from the current panorama, we cannot see the next one.

Bottom line: Long story short. Our visual perception has adjusted to information overload and does not make us aware of everything we see. At the same time, we only see the part that is in front of us. However, if we were to see and process everything, we would go crazy and become unlivable. For this reason, we need a natural relation to our perception. We only see, when we look and find and recognize until we see the next thing. The more people there are, the more they see. There is no need to get angry about missing something, because in return you have seen something else. To avoid stress, the following applies: What I don’t know, i.e. see, won’t hurt me.