Humans are constantly bombarded with more information than our brains can process, leading us to filter out much of it unconsciously. Our bodies, including our brains, act as gatekeepers on a need-to-know basis. Without this filtering, focusing would likely be impossible, as we would be overwhelmed by the flood of data. Thus, we don't perceive everything, even if sometimes we think we do.
What we tune into is largely determined by our patterns of awareness. We gather specific information from our senses and translate it into patterns. or rhythms, of perception.These rhythms are shaped by personal, social, environmental, and biological factors, among others. The layers of rhythms we can tune into are endless and complex. It's fascinating to realize that different people may witness the same event but perceive very different realities.
The well-known attention experiment by Daniel Simons is a perfect case in point. As Simons notes, "This form of invisibility depends not on the limits of the eye, but on the limits of the mind. We consciously see only a small subset of our visual world, and when our attention is focused on one thing, we fail to notice other, unexpected things around us—including those we might want to see."
"This demonstration is much like a good magic trick," Simons continued. "A magician can lead the audience to think he's going to make the ball disappear with one method, and while people watch for that technique, he uses a different one. In both cases, the effect capitalizes on what people expect to see, demonstrating that we often miss what we don't expect."
Our brains are built to manage the flow of information this way. However, research is finding ways to broaden our attention 'bank account' through relaxation practices. I would argue that sensory and embodied practices that explore new and unknown rhythms may also help broaden our capacities for awareness.
Understanding that we see only a fraction of the world around us has profound implications. It reminds us of the subjective nature of reality and highlights the unique way each person interprets their surroundings. As we navigate through life, it is beneficial to remember that our perception is not merely a window to the world but a complex interplay of sensory input and cognitive patterns.
In the meantime, it's good to at least have the expanded awareness that "not everything is always as it seems." In any situation, one might ask, “what other rhythms are there to perceive?”
References
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/but-did-you-see-the-gorilla-the-problem-with-inattentional-blindness-17339778/
https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2017.00023
https://www.livescience.com/6727-invisible-gorilla-test-shows-notice.html)