We Suck At Perceiving Change
If you have ever taken a hot shower and stepped outside into the cold, it takes quite some time to actually feel it. Some people can even go more than a few minutes before noticing. Our bodies are sometimes slow to perceive changes. Our minds, on the other hand, let’s just say they sometimes get the invitation late.
Before I go further, here is another example. Looking back when many smart business people were making horse-drawn carriages way before cars. It never clicked that such a massive change was being made, not only in transport but also in production and technology. Advancements were being made all around them. The times were changing, mankind was changing disappointingly, they couldn’t see it. Only a handful few did.
Renting DVDs was a thing less than a decade ago. If you had to ask yourself, “when did streaming take over?” It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when. Did you even notice when computers stopped coming with disc drives? Unless it’s your job to tell when the change happened, you are probably just like me, just going with it. It’s just how things are.
We are horrible (this is a polite way of putting it) at perceiving change, especially gradual change around and within us. It’s easy to see the results but tough to imagine how someone got there.
You wake up, look in the mirror, and exclaim, “who have I become!” as you slowly rub your new pouch. Or you wake up again and find you’re in your late 20s, 30s, or 40s, and you’re in a room full of people you barely know, doing things you said you would never. When you notice it, it feels like you just skipped to this part of your life. However, upon reflection, you can see yourself gradually changing a tiny bit over time. You would think you should have noticed yourself going off track but it’s like being in a plane, you have to look out the window to actually notice it’s moving.
you have to look out the window to actually notice it’s moving.
Deliberate action has to be taken to notice the change. If we had, to be honest, it isn’t the easiest or most fun thing to do. Once in a while, it’s essential to take stock of who you were, are, and becoming over time. That’s why some people journal, athletes take times, check weights and others collect data. Because we are lamentable at noticing the change.
