From International Viewpoints (IVy) Issue 11 - November 1993
See Home Page at http://www.ivymag.org


Peripheral Perceptions

By Flemming Funch, USA(1)

Different ranges of perception are available depending on how one
focuses one's senses. It is easiest to explain in the visual sense,
but probably applies to all senses.

In the human eye there are two kinds of receptors of light: cones
and rods. The cones are good for receiving bright, colorful,
high-resolution,
focused pictures. The rods on the other hand are very sensitive
to dim light and cover a bigger field of vision, but not with as high
resolution, not focused, and not with as many colors.

Modern industrialized society would tend to promote continuous
focusing,
both mentally and visually. People sit and look at computer screens
right in front of their faces, with little symbols on. They have to
think and concentrate to do their work right. All of it tends to
promote
more focusing and less peripheral perception. One way of noticing
that is by the number of people who have to wear glasses, just a
symptom
of too fixed focusation.

The big picture

However, a lot of information is lost by omitting peripheral
perception.
That is what one uses to get the whole picture, it is much more
holistic
than focused perception. It is what one uses to get the broad, general
overview of what is going on. If you don't use it you might miss the
big picture. It is very common today that people are focusing on many
little details without really knowing what they relate to.

A lot of what we usually call extra-sensory perceptions seems
to be tied to peripheral perceptions. Those perceptions are used so
little that when they are, it becomes something very mysterious.

Maintaining an ability to see, hear, and feel peripherally is
important
for one's personal sanity. If one doesn't have it one would tend
to get lost in interesting specifics without any idea of where one
is. With peripheral orientation one would always know the big picture,
how things relate to each other and so forth.

Flexibility

If you can both focus on something interesting, and still maintain
perspective, then you will have much less adverse effects from life.
You can much easier stay out of trouble, and you can much easier put
yourself in the situations you want to be in.

Peripheral perceptions can be increased simply by using them. For
example, by forcing oneself to see not with one's central, focused
vision, but out of the sides. By using that vision more one can
develop
it again.

Also, mentally, by working one's ability to move swiftly between
generalities
and specifics, between global and local, between big chunks and small
pieces.


(1)Page 65 of Flemming
Funch's Technical Essays, Volume 2 Reality Design Series #
8, 6 August 1992 . These books can be obtained direct from Flemming.
The Address is:
Flemming Funch, 7448 Oak Park Ave, Van Nuys, CA 91406, USA, or:
ffunch@newciv.org
Scandinavien readers may be interested to know that a translation to
Danish of
Essay #1 has appeared in Uafhngige Synspunkter, M21, March
1993. This is one of the shorter of Flemming's Technical Essays.
Each IVy next year will contain another short one.Ed







Mon Jul 17 19:33:59 EDT 2006