I am paying strong attention to "Altered Traits" by Goleman and Davidson. It's about research on meditation. As always happens with research, concepts and meanings get clarified. Distinctions are made. New angles and facets are uncovered.
Then, when important discoveries are made, the results have to be communicated to someone like me, someone interested but not deep in the research and even unwilling to get deep into special terminology and equipment use.
I try to find several snatches of time throughout the day to fit in 15 or 20 minutes reading the book. That works well because any given paragraph may well hit me with an important concept that wows me, pauses my brain, reveals something exciting. When I strike something golden, first I get wowed. Then, I use my finger and the Kindle free software to highlight the passage, usually sharing it on Twitter with my followers.
That's what happened yesterday with attention blinks. The authors used the well-known children's book "Where's Waldo?" to illustrate what they were writing about. You may well be familiar with the Waldo figure already:
goo.gl/W67BhN - shortened link by Google Shortener to see some about Waldo and remind yourself of his appearance
The scientists' point is that a young child will have a moment of delight when he spots Waldo in the midst of a crowded, confusing drawing of people and objects, some distractions that look similar at first glance but aren't our guy. During that moment of delight, the child's perception is on pause. He can't detect a 2nd Waldo during that moment of joy.
Reminds me of the sleight of hand experts I have seen who pass through the audience meeting and greeting and then once again to return the wallets, watches and purses they lifted during the first pass. Here's an example: http://blog.ted.com/the-art-of-misdirection-apollo-robbins-at-tedglobal-2013/
The book's point is that the initial surge of joy (dopamine in the brain) obliterates the senses for a moment. Meditators calm the initial surge some and have a better chance of being alert sooner.
