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On not noticing rather too many things

jacobbrazeal.wordpress.com

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Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#71
post #64

The City And The City (China Mieville). Two nations, occupying the same physical area, and occupants of either nation have been trained/socialized since birth not to see or interact with the other nation. If they do accidentally, for example with car accident that breaches the psychosocial barrier between them, they must 'unsee' it lest they risk an illegal breach themselves. Sounds like the OP was in the United Stat…

Now if only Breach would actually whisk away any Tenderloin citizens who threatened or harassed Siliconians…

Great book, one of my favorites. Really draws attention to the absurdity of borders and legal status. (I’m not saying we should do away with borders. Just that they carry some weird weird consequences.)

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#72
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not that you have ADHD if you are primarily in your zone. For me ADHD means being physical twitchy and constantly thinking about everything. The zone is the opposite but I never heard someone constantly being in the zone. It's a lot of procrastinating and then hyperfocusing 6h before the deadline

In the context of this metaphor, I would describe ADHD as the inability to get into the zone despite desperately wanting to, and the inability to get out of the zone despite desperately trying to. Lots of zone time, very little aimed at the targets you'd prefer.

The problems for me really began when I was no longer able to get in to any zone -- part of this came with a shift in to more managerial roles and constantly having to split my attention between multiple people and projects.

The diagnosis has at a minimum put a lot of context on to large parts of my life and the medication leaves me with some energy left over at the end of the day instead of collapsing like a zombie into the sofa. Still a work in progress.

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#74

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…

What a pithy example of the human experience. I love this slice of life vignette. I would argue, even better said than the blog post.

Just want to say - this comment means a lot. I thought the experience with my kid and the arrows was really poignant for me and I am glad I could get it across.

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#75
post #54
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once went on a flight in a glider. I fly RC planes, so I know how to fly (in theory), but I wasn't able to fly the glider well. The pilot, on the other hand, obviously flew with no problem. I noticed that this wasn't because I didn't know what to pay attention to, but I didn't know what to ignore . I knew very well that I needed to pay attention to my speed, attitude, etc, but there was so much sensory overload tha…

This really rings true to my early experiences with driving. As a novice, every moment driving was a sensory overload. Check the rearview mirror! Am I going at the right speed? Is anyone overtaking me? Am I staying centered in the lane? How long has that light been green? Plus all the little mechanics of actually operating a motor vehicle, actually moving your hands and feet the right amounts. Now, a lot of getting b…

I don't think it's that people don't notice or see, it's that the recognition is mostly subconcious.

I was once driving on a 3 lane highway with a semi going slowly in the middle lane. I was in the left lane and passed him but needed the right lane for an upcoming exit. I pass the semi, slide into the middle lane and then wait. I realized I was waiting on a small blue car that, sure enough, popped out of the right lane going faster than either one of us.

And I realized I had processed that a small blue car was also passing the semi going faster than either the semi or myself and that I needed to wait for them before completing my move into the far right lane.

I think often times things get processed at a subconcious level and I imagine that's what was happening with the anecdote about arrows.

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#76
post #69
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once went on a flight in a glider. I fly RC planes, so I know how to fly (in theory), but I wasn't able to fly the glider well. The pilot, on the other hand, obviously flew with no problem. I noticed that this wasn't because I didn't know what to pay attention to, but I didn't know what to ignore . I knew very well that I needed to pay attention to my speed, attitude, etc, but there was so much sensory overload tha…

Getting overloaded is common in stressful situations in aviation where it's often called getting behind the airplane. It's the reason we're taught to aviate, then navigate, and then communicate. It's a graceful degradation where by purposefully ignoring what's not currently most important you can focus on what's most important rather than failing at everything. For me flying gliders, the most stressful situations I'v…

I don't know how passenger gliders are designed, but if they're anything like well-designed RC planes, they'll stall by dropping the nose, cruise with a slight up pitch, and have a tendency to right the wings.

That does make a craft very stable in flight, to the point where some RC craft I've used land themselves (albeit a bit hard) when they lose power.

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#77

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?

Not necessarily. One of the Jhanas (states of mind attainable through meditation) is "Neither perception nor non-perception". This can be described as not being aware, but it's complicated.

Like Christianity, I think there are a lot of important ideas in Ayurvedic wisdom, but I'm not convinced everything they have a word for exists. Enlightenment is another one.

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#78

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.

This is actually a fear of mine. It often makes me hold my tongue because I need to think "should/do I already know this?"

I stopped asking people about family or work unless I already know the answer. I have terrible luck and always end up asking people who just went through tragedy.

Re: On not noticing rather too many things

#79
post #76
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting overloaded is common in stressful situations in aviation where it's often called getting behind the airplane. It's the reason we're taught to aviate, then navigate, and then communicate. It's a graceful degradation where by purposefully ignoring what's not currently most important you can focus on what's most important rather than failing at everything. For me flying gliders, the most stressful situations I'v…

I don't know how passenger gliders are designed, but if they're anything like well-designed RC planes, they'll stall by dropping the nose, cruise with a slight up pitch, and have a tendency to right the wings. That does make a craft very stable in flight, to the point where some RC craft I've used land themselves (albeit a bit hard) when they lose power.

Pretty much yes. Trim to your desired speed in level flight and you can go hands free. Large fins mean strong yaw stability, long wings mean strong roll damping, dihedral on those long wings is relatively large as well so you're stable in level flight. Nearly all gliders are very well behaved in stall and mush forwards without being likely to drop a wing.

As far as pitch, elevators tend to be close to neutral or produce negative lift. There's generally not a noticeable pitch on the aircraft simply because you want the fuselage as closely aligned to the airflow as possible to reduce drag.

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