Do You See What Eyes See?

Looking at the October sky last night,  it dawned on me that the obvious answer to the question, "Do you see what I see?" is most certainly, unequivocally, under any and all circumstances,  "no".   "Seeing" is a complicated endeavor, an action with variables unique to each and every receptacle. When we see, we use both our eyes and our brain.  Basic science tells us that our individual lenses and brains follow snowflake logic: no two are the same. Hence, no two 'viewings' are the same either.  

The greatest factor in this lens-brain equation is, of course, the brain. Our brains both reflect and affect what our eyes see in any given situation. Presidential debate watchers Wednesday evening saw the same debate, yet our preconceived beliefs affected what drew our focus.  We know this, but always seem surprised when others don't share our take-away. As a person who has spent my life trying to persuade others to see things the way I do, I am only recently coming to realize that no one ever will.  And therein lies the beauty.  Only the beholder gets to judge because we each construct our own path to the truth. 

Wisdom seekers have long recognized that the goal is to see beyond what is before our eyes.  The true gift of sight rests not with the eyes, and not even with the brain.  Transcendent understanding involves a third element;  insight. Unlike eyesight, which is dependent on the physical world around us, insight emerges from the intangible world within us.  Insight connects what the eyes and mind often cannot.  Atticus was able to teach this to Scout, and Obi-Wan to Luke, so perhaps there is hope for the likes of me yet.