<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Friday, March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Check It Out: Learn to take a good look at what you’re not seeing

By Jan Johnston
Published: September 6, 2020, 6:03am
3 Photos
Photo Gallery

There’s a song called “Solid” that’s performed by the band The Dandy Warhols, and the lyrics include this line: “Well, I must have a door in the back of my head.”

In a nutshell the song is about dumping out unwanted thoughts, but for me the line means something else. So much information bombards my gray cells on a regular basis that bits and pieces keep falling away — like I have a door in the back of my head. I’ve known this for a long time, but reading Alexandra Horowitz’s fascinating “On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes” proves to me that I am missing things because a) my brain is overloaded, and b) I let screen time become prime time. In other words, my brain is leaky and distracted at the same time.

But the good news is that it’s possible to adjust my conscious mind so that I can be more present — when taking a walk, for example. Alexandra Horowitz, a professor at Barnard College, Columbia University, heads the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard (if you haven’t read Horowitz’s “Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Small” or “Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know,” consider adding these to your reading list — you’ll learn so much about our canine companions). In many ways her books about dogs led her to write “On Looking,” because while coming to understand how a dog sees the world, she realized that it was also helping her to understand how she was seeing the world — and how much she was missing.

Horowitz takes 11 walks in her Upper West Side Manhattan neighborhood with experts from different fields including a geologist, a typographer, a blind woman, and a doctor. She also walks the neighborhood with her toddler son (he likes the letter “O,” and she’s amazed at how frequently “O” shows up during their walk) and her dog, Finn. Each walk is a revelation as her walking companions point out details most of us never notice because we’re in a hurry, or, more likely, our attention is focused elsewhere (yes, smartphones, I’m talking about you). We’ve lost our ability to be present, which means we’ve lost our ability to truly observe what’s happening around us.

“On Looking” is a charming, engaging read that just might change the way you take your next walk. It helps to have a walking buddy who has a unique perspective on the world — such as a dog — so don’t forget to bring Fido along for the canine viewpoint. By the way, if you enjoy this book and want to read more about perception and awareness, check out the reading list below. The human brain is a wonder to behold, so give your hardworking organ a treat by letting it read about itself. If it goes to your head, give that noggin a thumbs-up!

“The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes” by Donald D. Hoffman. (also available as e-book)

“Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently” by Beau Lotto. (also available as e-book)

“Mind to Matter: The Astonishing Science of How Your Brain Creates Material Reality” by Dawson Church.

“The Mind’s Eye” by Oliver Sacks. (also available as e-book and eAudiobook)

“On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes” by Alexandra Horowitz. (also available as eAudiobook)

“Out of My Head: On the Trail of Consciousness” by Tim Parks.

“Stop Missing Your Life: How to Be Deeply Present in an Un-Present World” by Cory Muscara.

Loading...