The Film of Familiarity
01-12-2015
The issue of immersion in the technological industries has become more involved with the recent popularity of mobile devices and especially virtual reality. With advances in digitally rendered scenes, movies have become more realistic, as if we are immersed in that world. Also mobile devices pursue immediate connection to information. As always, there is the concern that we are becoming too invested in technology and becoming unaware of our actual surroundings.
I’m not telling people that they should cut off their connection to electronics because that is not the point. There is, however, a dynamic here that is worth noting. As one object is focused on, the surrounding objects will become blurry, which explains why immersion is a difficult topic. This issue is not exclusive to technology. Even while camping, one of the less technologically influenced activities, we struggle to balance awareness and immersion. The connection with nature is more immediate when camping, but things like remembering to keep our possessions secure and planning what to cook for dinner still mediate, or complicate, the experience. As long as we are not lost of course, we are also constantly reminded that civilization and its conveniences can be returned to at any time. So during these deviations from the complications of our normal lives, we are distracted from fully embracing that escape.
The balance of immersion and awareness also serves a practical purpose. Recently I listened to a National Public Radio interview about the implementation of distractions on the road to improve the performance of drivers. Obviously distractions can be dangerous, but if drivers become too focused on the road, or too immersed, they can also miss dangers outside their immediate surroundings. The author of the study also noted that despite the engineer’s desire to design roads as clean, straight lines, they are required to angle and weave them. This is because, especially on freeways and interstates, a straight path is monotonous and does not provide enough of a challenge to drivers in order to keep their attention. This can result in them falling asleep at the wheel.
Clearly immersion is a daily experience, and being aware of the nature of awareness may help us choose the things we want to focus on. But we may not have the time to think of these things when we are busy during the week or can’t be bothered during our periods of relaxation. We just experience it unknowingly. Nevertheless, a different perspective on our everyday lives can inspire new feelings toward it. As in Samuel Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria, where he appropriately describes the writing of his fellow poet William Wordsworth, the aim is “to give the charm of novelty to things of every day, and to excite a feeling analogous to the supernatural, by awakening the mind's attention to the lethargy of custom, and directing it to the loveliness and the wonders of the world before us; an inexhaustible treasure, but for which, in consequence of the film of familiarity and selfish solicitude, we have eyes, yet see not, ears that hear not, and hearts that neither feel nor understand.”
Brian Dean is an editor and critic who studied Literature at Florida State University. “The Distance Formula” is an exploration of the equally expansive landscapes of the world and the mind.
I’m not telling people that they should cut off their connection to electronics because that is not the point. There is, however, a dynamic here that is worth noting. As one object is focused on, the surrounding objects will become blurry, which explains why immersion is a difficult topic. This issue is not exclusive to technology. Even while camping, one of the less technologically influenced activities, we struggle to balance awareness and immersion. The connection with nature is more immediate when camping, but things like remembering to keep our possessions secure and planning what to cook for dinner still mediate, or complicate, the experience. As long as we are not lost of course, we are also constantly reminded that civilization and its conveniences can be returned to at any time. So during these deviations from the complications of our normal lives, we are distracted from fully embracing that escape.
The balance of immersion and awareness also serves a practical purpose. Recently I listened to a National Public Radio interview about the implementation of distractions on the road to improve the performance of drivers. Obviously distractions can be dangerous, but if drivers become too focused on the road, or too immersed, they can also miss dangers outside their immediate surroundings. The author of the study also noted that despite the engineer’s desire to design roads as clean, straight lines, they are required to angle and weave them. This is because, especially on freeways and interstates, a straight path is monotonous and does not provide enough of a challenge to drivers in order to keep their attention. This can result in them falling asleep at the wheel.
Clearly immersion is a daily experience, and being aware of the nature of awareness may help us choose the things we want to focus on. But we may not have the time to think of these things when we are busy during the week or can’t be bothered during our periods of relaxation. We just experience it unknowingly. Nevertheless, a different perspective on our everyday lives can inspire new feelings toward it. As in Samuel Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria, where he appropriately describes the writing of his fellow poet William Wordsworth, the aim is “to give the charm of novelty to things of every day, and to excite a feeling analogous to the supernatural, by awakening the mind's attention to the lethargy of custom, and directing it to the loveliness and the wonders of the world before us; an inexhaustible treasure, but for which, in consequence of the film of familiarity and selfish solicitude, we have eyes, yet see not, ears that hear not, and hearts that neither feel nor understand.”
Brian Dean is an editor and critic who studied Literature at Florida State University. “The Distance Formula” is an exploration of the equally expansive landscapes of the world and the mind.
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