http://10000birds.com/are-birders-more-perceptive-than-non-birders.htm
Ask yourself of what you are perceptive in your surroundings. Are they things of which you must be perceptive, such as marauding SUVs in traffic, in order to maintain your well-being (as well as your pulse)? Are they things of which you choose to be perceptive, such as everyone's hairstyle when you are thinking of making a change to your own? Or, are they things to which you are inexplicably drawn, such as an affinity for artwork in all its forms?
I strongly feel, as a teacher, that exposing people to new things may cause them to choose to be perceptive of them in the future. I also feel that is the way to help someone discover an affinity, which may develop into a passion and then a life's vocation. Here's my case.
The Weather Channel, that bastion of all things death-and-destruction coupled with something of the "happy news" ethos of the 1970s, debuted in my hometown in January 1987. My dad called me into the TV room from my bedroom to check out the new channel. I was instantly smitten, so much so that I wrote about it in my diary. I spent hours and hours watching John Hope (above) doing the tropical update, and spent reams of paper copying it all down. That one experience opened my eyes to the science of meteorology, which led me to load up on science courses in high school, which led me to apply to BS programs in atmospheric science for college, which led me to pursue a graduate degree...you get the idea. I've often wondered how many other meteorologists of my generation were first inspired by TWC.
So, my public service announcement is this: share. It seems that the more we (tree-hugging folks like me) encourage others to be perceptive of the wonders of nature, we (people in general) have a better chance at preserving this gorgeous, complex, and singularly unique planet.
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