That goes right along with how we actually 'see' things, as compared to "how we think we see" things.
I once attended a lecture on perception and interpretation where the speaker held up various note cards during the speech. The cards were all white with black text - something we are all quite accustomed to seeing on a regular basis. Each card typically only had one word or a picture on it and he would present them for only a few seconds each. At the end of his lecture, he held up one final note card, a card which none of us (to my knowledge at the time) could decipher. He held this card up for a longer period of time than the others yet still, none of us could interpretate the content. Eventually, he referenced the card mentioning things like newspapers, magazines, and typical letters written to whomever. Still, we couldn't figure out the card. Then he told us what the content was - a simple 3 letter word, 'cat'. The difference was that the letters were in white, while the card was black.
We were all looking for some meaning in the black, which was now the background, and of course it now meant nothing, and the white was the important part.
Simply put,
the important part is often right in front of us and we can't even see it.
This message has been edited by Freeloader, 03-25-2006 12:51 AM
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