External Seeing

[Timothy Gangwer]

It is undeniable that the brain’s ability to interpret “external seeing” is complex and multi-faceted. Through the two processes of “visual simile” and “pattern seeking”, the learner acquires knowledge visually. The associative flexibility of the mind to make visual similes allows learners to break away from objectivity and glimpse a profound reality that lies within an object or idea. Activities in external seeing which are indicators of this type of learning are: upside-down drawing, drawing of objects in motion, and repetition of a doodle pattern. The other part of external seeing is pattern seeking, which is the process of re-patterning or the finishing of complex patterns. This is done through alternate shapes to copy an existing pattern, the process of finding order in chaos, or completing a seemingly meaningless pattern. Viewed together as a part of a process, these two facets of external seeing can help us to define what visual learning is (Clark 342).

Taking all these things into consideration, it is clear that perception, or how we know, and knowledge, or what we know about, are closely related and affect each other deeply. If our knowledge is limited or flawed then we perceive the world to be as well, likewise if our perception is flawed or hindered in some way, then our knowledge and understanding will be likewise flawed (Garritson 82). With all of this visually based technology becoming more and more a necessary and accepted part of our lives, the question arises of whether or not certain people who have a disadvantage because they are not visually oriented are hindered by this shift towards the visual media.

- Adam L. Brackin