What We See and What We Don't

My wife and I had to go to one of those artificial big-box office buildings near Portland last week. The owners of these buildings try their best to make their buildings look like they’ve been part of the neighborhood for a long time because they plant large, mature trees and fast growing trees, which may help some forget that only five years ago there were crops growing on that very spot. Now all that grows there are medical, legal and accounting bills.

This article is not about that urban growth stuff, but rather what the different sexes notice when they enter somewhere new. The office we were visiting was on the second floor, which looked out to a maple tree. It was a nice shady view on a warm summer day.

When we left, my wife asked if I noticed the ear rings the receptionist was wearing. I said no, being that I'm unable to see jewelry. It's like being color blind, I just don't see jewelry. I asked her if she saw the giant squirrel nest in the tree branches outside the window. She didn’t see it. I guess it’s a hunter/gatherer thing. She is a gatherer, and jewelry is something to be gathered. I don’t hunt, but I do find myself looking for traces of game when I'm outdoors. It must be so ingrained into humans that we may be tracking right up until the day our sun goes Nova.