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On not noticing rather too many things

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Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#41

Post by cooper_ganglia »

xyzelement wrote: post #11

I think we all have different radars - and also what we perceive consciously and unconsciously differs. For example, my wife has a much keener recognition for something that's messy - a full sink or a shirt laying on the floor of my office will "scream" at her louder that it does at me. Although, I suspect the mess still "affects" me - eg I might be less focused/happy in the messy environment despite not thinking abo…

Really good example. I try to do this regularly around me. Take stock of the small things. It's almost meditative, although not quite. More just a intentional consciousness of and concentration on the world around me.

There's a strange song I heard that talks about noticing things like that and just considering them. It's called My Dog's Eyes by Zammuto. There's a line towards the end that says, "These were children who hadn't yet lost their sense of wonder.", and to me, that beautifully encapsulates what I want to do: Maintain that child-like sense of wonder for everything in the world for as long as I can!

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#42

Post by LAC-Tech »

alimw wrote: post #25
whalesalad wrote: post #9

Ah yes a casual date thru the tenderloin. These are the types of individuals with no situational awareness that end up getting hurt and wonder why. The world will kill you if you let it.

On the other hand, if more innocent people lacked the awareness to avoid dodgy areas then they probably wouldn't be so dodgy!

They'd be dodgier - a lot more potential victims.

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#43

Post by jacobsenscott »

whalesalad wrote: post #9

Ah yes a casual date thru the tenderloin. These are the types of individuals with no situational awareness that end up getting hurt and wonder why. The world will kill you if you let it.

On the contrary, even areas of the city considered "dangerous" are mostly not. The media likes to make these places sound like war zones because that sells.

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#44

Post by goles »

JohnMakin wrote: post #3

One time, at a family gathering, I asked where a relative named Cindy was. The entire room got silent and stared at me. I found out later she'd been dead for a few years and I somehow had not noticed or had forgotten.

“What’d I do? She fuckin’ dead or somethin’?” - Uncle, a six pack deep

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#45

Post by resolutebat »

slifin wrote: post #38
xyzelement wrote: post #11

I think we all have different radars - and also what we perceive consciously and unconsciously differs. For example, my wife has a much keener recognition for something that's messy - a full sink or a shirt laying on the floor of my office will "scream" at her louder that it does at me. Although, I suspect the mess still "affects" me - eg I might be less focused/happy in the messy environment despite not thinking abo…

The amount of car furniture we add to streets is insane I look back at pictures from before cars with envy, they're so clutter free in comparison

That's only because you can't smell the horse shit. New York City alone had 4 million pounds of the stuff deposited daily.

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#46

Post by bt4u »

swatcoder wrote: post #4
mrsilencedogood wrote: post #2

This resonated with me somewhat. I think what he describes is my default inclination... I focus very closely, struggle to multitask, etc. Classic ADHD symptoms, though I cope because a) I think my symptoms are relatively mild (though noticeable). I think I could get a diagnosis if I wanted one, but could also probably avoid one if I wanted to. And b) I have the great luck that I can simply "weaponize" my hyperfocus t…

FWIW -- You're not wrong that you could probably get a diagnosis if you wanted to, but everything you describe about your experience is relatable to almost everyone. That's exactly how farm workers spend 8 hours picking strawberries, how carpenters spend 8 hours hammering joists, and what everybody is doing when they miss that turn. In a lot of mental health diagnoses, its the persistent inability to "cope" that warr…

[dead]

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#47

Post by tomjakubowski »

swayvil wrote: post #40
Jeff_Brown wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you meditate you are aware the whole time, right? What do you define as the difference between awareness and attention?

I guess I'm aware the whole time. I fall into distraction sometimes too tho. I'm not sure exactly what you mean. I use the terms (awareness , attention) synonymously. To put it another way. It's like a flashlight. I shine the beam upon a river of experience-stuff (sights, sounds, thoughts...) When I pay attention to a thing, I direct the beam at that thing. When I concentrate, the beam narrows. When I refrain from al…

I've felt the beam widen a few times on long runs: I'm seeing while not looking at anything, hearing it all while listening to none of it. It's really quite nice

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#48

Post by JohnMakin »

goles wrote: post #44
JohnMakin wrote: post #3

One time, at a family gathering, I asked where a relative named Cindy was. The entire room got silent and stared at me. I found out later she'd been dead for a few years and I somehow had not noticed or had forgotten.

“What’d I do? She fuckin’ dead or somethin’?” - Uncle, a six pack deep

LOL, that's almost exactly how it went down

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#49

Post by tomjakubowski »

whalesalad wrote: post #9

Ah yes a casual date thru the tenderloin. These are the types of individuals with no situational awareness that end up getting hurt and wonder why. The world will kill you if you let it.

if you get distracted staring at the guy pooping on the sidewalk then you won't see the guy who's trying to hurt you

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#50

Post by tomjakubowski »

mocha_nate wrote: post #14
eloy wrote: post #6

A lot of these things also sounds like autism.

Zero situational awareness. Completely unaware of the disgust being felt by his date seeing a person defecate. Completely unaware a plant has been in the room for two years. The feeling to post this on the internet with a “lessons learned” theme is kind of naively comical.

"situational awareness" walking around places like skid row or the tenderloin is exactly not paying attention to the normal (for the area) things going on that aren't a threat, like a guy pooping on the sidewalk
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