There’s a famous video (I think there are actually multiple ones with a similar concept) where you’re asked to count the number of basketball passes and while you’re counting, you don’t notice a moonwalking bear
Think it was a guy in a gorilla suit, but yeah
I think there were multiple versions of it, one with a gorilla and one with a bear
Wowwwww I remember this was soooo popular when I was in highschool, was forwarded via email to everyone.
I believe it.
Replace “number of basketball passes” with the dozen really important things that we all must pay attention to as adult members of our modern society.
Replace “moonwalking bear” with the various species of ghost, elf, pixie, fairy, spirit and little people reported in ancient literature.
In stage magic they call it “misdirection”. I suspect that it comprises the backbone of our reality.
That’s why my dad bought a sports car
When you ignore a thing it disappears. Like, you stop seeing it. It disappears from your reality.
Paying attention / ignoring can become a habit.
And habits are basically invisible. So if you had a bunch of attention-controlling habits, slicing and dicing your reality like this, you’d never know it.
In all probability this is the case.
So there could be a thousand elves and ghosts dancing around and you’d never know it.
That’s why they calling “paying” attention. Like money, attention is a limited resource.
That makes sense.
I think that the biggest thing about paying attention and ignoring is the invisibleness of habitual ignoring. You could have an entire skyscraper of habitual ignoring, rendering an entire universe invisible, and never know it.
Yes. Which is why there’s enough cases of parents forgetting kids in the car to make it a visible issue.
And then there was ADD brain. If only…
What are you talking about?
(I’m a sperg. Or post-sperg. I meditate a lot)
Yeah, if politics does it, it’s called a “distraction”.
Which demonstrates why IGNORance can never be eliminated
That is a hasty conclusion.
It can by eliminated via a meditation technique. The Buddhists call it vipassana.
It, like “paying attention”, is a thing that you can do with your attention.
Yes, there are actually 2 things that you can do with your attention. The directing/focussing/concentrating etc of “paying attention” is just one of them.
No meditation can enable the concious mind to be aware of all things everywhere. Always, something is ignored.
I have not yet encountered any hard limits.
Really? Next time you’re meditating, take a look at what I’m doing IRL and then afterwards, come back here and post a description. Please include my residential address for confirmation.
I can’t today, but maybe tomorrow. Like I said, no hard limits yet.
