-How to find lost things-
I've been a fan of Michael Barrish (he of the Oblivio Oatmeal Clip) for some time, and I thought I should share this one with you:
The Plight of the Orange Juice Container
It's all about losing something within a definite area, and driving yourself crazy when the object fails to appear after a frenzied search.
The frenzy and agitation he is suggesting sounds similar to the experience of drowning. The panic opens the mouth and the arms flail in a very unhelpful way, even as the nerves send a confused storm of information to the brain, removing even the knowledge of which way is up after we sink. It's a situation where the survival instinct fails.
The process of finding lost things is also not an instinct. If you have any investment in the objects recovery, you are likely to become stressed, irrational, and impractical. That's why other people's assistance tends to produce the objects we're looking for, even when we know the territory better than they do. Less invested, they act as a calming influence able to look in the same places in a new way.
A few days ago, I tore my apartment to pieces looking for a phone cord I knew was in one of three places. It turned out it was in a paper bag in my closet with several unused extension cords and minor electronics. This was the mostly likely place for it to be, but I didn't find it until the third time I checked, when I stopped "looking" into the bag, and started feeling about inside it with my hands, emptying the bag as each item was identified. I have 20/20 vision, just not in the head.
I've been a fan of Michael Barrish (he of the Oblivio Oatmeal Clip) for some time, and I thought I should share this one with you:
The Plight of the Orange Juice Container
It's all about losing something within a definite area, and driving yourself crazy when the object fails to appear after a frenzied search.
The frenzy and agitation he is suggesting sounds similar to the experience of drowning. The panic opens the mouth and the arms flail in a very unhelpful way, even as the nerves send a confused storm of information to the brain, removing even the knowledge of which way is up after we sink. It's a situation where the survival instinct fails.
The process of finding lost things is also not an instinct. If you have any investment in the objects recovery, you are likely to become stressed, irrational, and impractical. That's why other people's assistance tends to produce the objects we're looking for, even when we know the territory better than they do. Less invested, they act as a calming influence able to look in the same places in a new way.
A few days ago, I tore my apartment to pieces looking for a phone cord I knew was in one of three places. It turned out it was in a paper bag in my closet with several unused extension cords and minor electronics. This was the mostly likely place for it to be, but I didn't find it until the third time I checked, when I stopped "looking" into the bag, and started feeling about inside it with my hands, emptying the bag as each item was identified. I have 20/20 vision, just not in the head.
posted by Benedict | 4:00 AM
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