Noticing and Attention

The foundational relationship between noticing things and being curious about them. A crucial insight emerged: you cannot be curious about what you don't notice first.

Stacey's Crucial Distinction

Stacey Druss articulated a fundamental insight near the end of the call:

"I think we're... there's a little bit of a blurry line between the noticing and the curious, and I just want to remind everybody, we are all curious."

"With the noticing, I do believe there are people that they just don't notice. And, like, they may not have the ability to notice, and so if you don't notice in the first place, you can't be curious."

"Then there are people that notice and they're not curious, and there's a difference there."

Three Categories

People who don't notice - May lack the ability to notice; curiosity is impossible without noticing first
People who notice but aren't curious - Notice but choose not to investigate further
People who notice and are curious - The ideal state

Jerry's Response: Attention is Everything

Jerry Michalski responded:

"So much of all of this is about how we direct our attention, or how we mind our attention, or what we pay attention to, however you want to phrase that. And because only that will direct us to be curious and give us the avenue as you just described."

Key Insights

Directing attention is the foundation
Minding attention - being aware of where attention goes
What we pay attention to determines what we can be curious about
Attention creates the avenue for curiosity

The Sequence

Notice → Curiosity → Investigation → Learning
   ↑
   |
Attention

Without attention, there is no noticing. Without noticing, there is no curiosity. Without curiosity, there is no investigation.

Questions That Emerged

Stacey Druss to Scott Moehring:

"Thanks for noticing this relationship —> Which comes first? Curious leading to noticing, or noticing leading to curiosity? That's something I will be pondering."

This question suggests a possible feedback loop:

Initial noticing enables curiosity
Curiosity then sharpens noticing
Enhanced noticing reveals more to be curious about

Implications for Cultivating Curiosity

If noticing precedes curiosity, then attention training may be more fundamental than curiosity training:

Practices that develop attention (Somatic Experiencing, Presence, meditation)
Slowing down to notice more
Creating Spaciousness for perception
Reducing technological distraction

Related to Other Themes

Education

LP1 (Louise) observed declining attention spans in students - without attention, noticing suffers, and curiosity becomes impossible.

Somatic Practice

Eve Blossom's work on Somatic Experiencing helps people notice subtle signals of the body - expanding the field of noticing.

Etymology

From Etymology of Curiosity:

"To be curious is to care enough to pay attention."

The etymology confirms: care → attention → curiosity

Discussed By

Stacey Druss - Made the foundational distinction
Jerry Michalski - Connected to attention and awareness
Scott Moehring - Raised the relationship question

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