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February 24, 2014

Why You Should Envy, But Not Worship Sherlock Holmes

Besides besting bias, we should envy Sherlock because he is amazingly attentive.
He does not just see, he observes. Famously, in “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Sherlock asks Watson how many stairs lead up to their apartment. Even though Watson had seen the stairs a hundred times, he could not for the life of him recall how many steps there were–he did not truly observe something he saw every day. Neither do we. | But Not Simpler, Scientific American Blog Network

Posted by gerardvanderleun at February 24, 2014 3:14 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

The late Western author, Louis L'Amour hammered this concept into me through many chapters and characters in his multitudinous books.

Which trait has served me in good stead, be it staying alive in over 300k motorcycle miles, or deer hunting, seeing game deep in the shadowed brush, in the periphery of my vision.

And, while my mind doesn't process the minutiae of detail as does this particular Sherlock rendition, I appreciate the parallel.

Everyone's "eyeball" sees pretty much the same scene in the same way. Not everyone's mind has been trained to recognize the information that the eye is sending.

U.S. Navy Seals are trained rigorously in the art of "logging the details", having to render detailed sketches of something they've only been shown for a mere few seconds. They practice this over and over and over again.

Compared to them, I'm a mere rookie. Compared to the greater population, I'm virtually Sherlock.

Speaking of "Sherlock" roles, have you checked out "Elementary", as competing series? Damn well acted, and definitely a Sherlock to a different drummer.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at February 24, 2014 6:24 PM

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