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you were always going to notice it · insyed; cozy psychology

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  Welcome back to INSyed, I'm Syed. And every week
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  I take real academic research and bring it closer
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  to the life you're actually living. Like a diary
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  that did psychology, let's take a peek INSyed.
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  I don't know if it's just me, but I struggle
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  to keep my shoes tied. And to go to class, I
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  have to cross a small park using a stone footpath.
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  Yesterday, my shoelaces got undone. I was already
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  late for class and this was frustratingly the
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  third time I had to tie them, but it was ultimately
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  necessary. As I got down and tied my shoe, I
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  noticed a patch of grass by my feet. It caught
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  my eye because I'd never realized how populated
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  it was. Each individual strand of grass layered
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  on top of each other. It led me to pause. To
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  look. Every day I walk down this path. And yet
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  only now I realize how beautiful it was. How
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  much detail there was in that single patch of
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  grass. How it was truly alive. I had fallen out
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  of something known as inattentional blindness.
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  In psychology, it's what happens when you don't
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  notice something because you're focused on something
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  else. It was originally observed during experiments
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  on attention. And it helps our brain process
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  the world around us without overloading. Because
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  if you had to process every piece of dirt on
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  earth you saw, you'd most likely end up on the
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  ground, overwhelmed, processing every sensation
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  that would inevitably bombard your senses. Isn't
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  it something? How clever the brain truly is?
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  We've grown to filter things that we've gotten
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  used to. Filtering. Schemas. We've learned how
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  to take shortcuts that make processing this complicated
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  world a little easier. But what we often forget
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  is that in taking these shortcuts, we can miss
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  out on the greatest of things that were always
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  there. Have you ever seen the invisible gorilla?
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  Researchers in 1999 performed an experiment where
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  they had participants watch a video and count
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  something in the video. Such as how many times
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  people passed a basketball between one another
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  or how many times the ball bounced. They were
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  then asked if they saw anything out of the ordinary.
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  I'm sure you can see where this is going. If
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  you were told to do the same, do you think you'd
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  notice someone dressed in a gorilla costume move
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  into frame, beat their chest, and walk away?
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  Out of 228 people, all of whom were people actively
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  studying and learning in university, 114 of them
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  said they didn't see anything strange. 114 people.
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  Half of them. I've linked the video. But because
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  you already know, it might be obvious to you,
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  but it's a fun game to try out with a friend
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  to see if they notice. But why am I talking about
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  a gorilla? What I wish for you to take away from
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  this is that, as we go about our day, we often
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  exclusively focus on things we have to do. Rarely
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  do we remember to experience the now. Granted,
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  those 114 might have correctly counted how many
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  passes were made or how many times the ball bounced.
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  But they miss the gorilla. And if they could
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  miss something so obvious, how often do we miss
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  the subtle? When was the last time you looked
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  out your window and noticed the stars in the
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  night sky? There's something so honoring in that
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  starlight. It's traveled almost unimaginable
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  distances, light years across galaxies, just
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  for you to see them. Or maybe something as close
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  as your friends. The ones you always hang out
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  with. How often do you actually notice those
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  moments while you're in them? I like to let this
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  be an invitation. Look for something around you.
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  Something you see every day and just be happy
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  you have it. Whether it's your favorite mug or
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  your best friend, be happy that you get to call
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  that experience yours. After I tied my shoes,
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  I stood back up. Suddenly, there was so much
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  color. The small part I walked through every
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  day was alive. The trees had bloomed, the sky
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  was clear and blue, and I felt the warm sunlight
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  put my heart at ease. I was confused. Had something
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  changed? No, not really. I was still already
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  slightly late to class and I had a feeling this
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  wasn't the last time I'd tie my shoes. But this
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  experience? Was that new? Again, not really.
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  I was always there. I just needed to notice it
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  again. And that brings us to the end of this
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  week's Inside. Thank you for spending your time
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  here. As always, if something today stayed with
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  you, the best way you can support is to share
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  it with someone it may reach. You can also follow
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  the show wherever you listen. And if you have
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  a moment, leaving a review genuinely helps more
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  people find us. Until then, remember that there's
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  always more INSyed.