Wonder at the spectacular can block understanding of everyday harmony

Evidence

Human beings tend to do their wondering about the unusual. It is only when they begin to wonder about the usual that they begin to feel a harmony with the natural environment, or even with their own social existence. In that sense, the spectacular may even be the enemy of understanding. The transcendent earth forms seen in the primitive national parks, aesthetically joy giving and humbling as they are, are still not so truly awe inspiring as the miraculous factory contained in a blade of grass. — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 672

Categorization

• SEED: Potential essay: the spectacular as enemy of understanding — applies to nature interpretation but also to media diet and discourse. ‘The miraculous factory contained in a blade of grass.’
• XREF: Connects to ch35 focus on concealed functional order vs. raw scenic beauty, and existing claim about ugliness and raw beauty not needing interpretation — connects to: Understanding requires seeing with the mind’s eye, not just the physical eyes — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 676; Every viewer, sighted included, perceives only a fraction of what nature offers — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 705; Rich aesthetic attention requires tolerating delayed understanding — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 433 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Scientific precision can block, not enable, deeper understanding of attention #corroborates (0.85) — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 142
• Intense attention can become immobilizing and bring one out of step with everyday life #exemplifies (0.85)
• Deep wisdom may lie in maintaining wonder rather than accumulating answers #qualifies (0.85) — , A Year of World Stories, 10898
• Rich aesthetic attention requires tolerating delayed understanding #expands (0.80) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 433
• Fascination exemplifies knowing as pure negation, not fusion with the object #exemplifies (0.80) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 578
• Everyday moments of attention can be framed and shared as art experiences #corroborates (0.75) — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 372
• A purely instrumental mode of seeing prevents genuine encounter with the world #contradicts (0.72) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 375