I've decided I'm going to start posting here more frequently.
I was thinking about the concept of "seeing straight" last night. What do we mean when we say "I couldn't even see straight?" It's a coarse qualification we're making, just talking about our immediate vision, as conceived by our eyes. However, being able to see straight, walk straight, think straight, encompasses a complex coordination between senses, the layer of perception, and interpretation to create a cognitive map of our physical and metaphysical space. For example, we know if we're unable to hear, we lose a "sense of direction" that we often can't describe, but is the very sense of hearing that helps localize. There is another sense - it's a fact, we have more than five - called bodily kinesthesis, which is the ability to localize your own body in space without looking; this is the sense cops test with the "close your eyes and touch your nose" test. In effect, clumsy people are akin to blind people!
My point is, Seeing is a distinct and powerful thing, a concept that extends to our mapping of relationships between ourselves and the world, and which, at it's purity, erases that distinction so we understand that we are part of the world.
Sometimes I can hardly see see straight. That's why I wear glasses. But I can still See, so I'm doin' alright.
A Primer on Everything by Bill Pena
