What Are You Ready to Learn?

This essay originally appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 12/7/20.

Do you remember that “Invisible Gorilla” video that went viral in 2010? It featured six people (three in black shirts, three in white shirts) passing a basketball around. At the beginning of the video, viewers were instructed to count how many passes were made by the people in the white shirts. 

At the end of the video, the number of passes was revealed, followed by a question asking, “But did you see the gorilla?” 

Gorilla? 

Yes. At some point during the video, a gorilla enters the frame, thumps its chest and leaves.

Logic would tell you that you wouldn’t be able to miss something like a dancing gorilla. But when researchers conducted this experiment, they found that half of the people who watched the video and counted the passes did miss the gorilla. It was as though the gorilla was invisible (hence the name). 

The researchers behind the video – Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons – say that this experiment reveals two things: 1) we are missing a lot of what goes on around us and 2) we have no idea that we are missing so much. It’s a psychological phenomenon known as inattentional blindness. It’s also why, for example, it’s easy to miss obvious bloopers in movies. When we are focusing hard on one thing, such as the main character, we are likely to miss unexpected things entering our visual fields.

I remember learning about this experiment and phenomenon in a college psychology class, but it wasn’t until last week when I was reminded of it again and realized how it could relate to my own life. 

I first thought of it as I read my current book, Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (which, by the way, is amazing and I can’t wait to write more about it once I finish). In the book, Rhimes shares honestly about her health journey and writes that “nothing works if you don’t actually decide that you are really and truly ready to do it.” Followed by a candid, “everything sounds like crap until you are in the right mindset.” 

I then thought of the concept again when I saw this Instagram post from Gretchen Rubin featuring the following familiar quote: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” 

As Gretchen writes in her Instagram caption, “When I articulate very clearly in my own mind what I’m seeking to learn, that’s when I start seeing the teachers. Because the fact is, the teachers are out there—it’s myself that I need to make ready, to acknowledge and define what I want to learn.”

What Shonda’s and Gretchen’s words made me realize is that a very crucial component in this inattentional blindness phenomenon is our own readiness. The first time you watch the Invisible Gorilla video, you unintentionally miss the gorilla because you are focused on the basketball players. But when you watch the video after your perspective has changed and your mindset is “look for the gorilla,” you see it and realize it was there all along. 

It made me think that the next time I need help with achieving a goal or fixing a problem, I should take a step back and consider what it is I’m ready to learn. Shifting perspective to include not only what I need to do, but also what I am ready to learn may be just what I need to reframe current circumstances and reveal the right teacher, thought or resource. In others (because I love a metaphor), it may be just what I need to “see the gorilla.”   

It’s an interesting concept to think about, especially in a time when many are planning or ideating about New Year’s resolutions. But instead of resolutions, what if we first thought about what we are ready to learn in 2021? Where might that lead us? 

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