María Albert

What this exercise shows students is that just because you have looked at something doesn’t mean that you have seen it. Just because something is available instantly to vision does not mean that it is available instantly to consciousness. Or, in slightly more general terms: access is not synonymous with learning. What turns access into learning is ... See more

CREATIVE VS CUSTODIAL WORK: A BINARY

Here’s a binary for you to gnaw on: let’s say there are two kinds of work — the creative and the custodial. In creative work, you create. You make new stuff, you make new categories, you make new connections. You start up, you iterate, you experiment and scale.

In custodial work, you tend and maintain. You care fo... See more

There is a physicality to looking closely, to paying attention, and the more aware you are of what attention feels like, the more aware you become of things pulling you out of that state.

Attention is the muscle. Looking closely is the application of that muscle. It can be exercised through deliberate action. Meditation is one method.

This act of “really looking” is deceptive. It requires an almost “unlooking” to see closely, a kind of defocusing. Because: We tend to see in groups, not details. We scan an image or scene for the gist, but miss a richness of particulars. I suspect this has only gotten worse in recent years as our Daily Processed Information density has increased, ... See more