Jared Free - "Annie Dillard"

"But the artificial obvious is hard to see. My eyes account for less than one percent of the weight of my head; I'm bony and dense; I see what I expect. I once spent a full three minutes looking at a bullfrog that was so unexpectedly large I couldn't see it even though a dozen enthusiastic campers were shouting directions. I just can't see the artificial obvious that those in the know construct. The herpetologist asks the native, "Are there snakes in that ravine?" "Nosir." And the herpetologist comes home with, yessir, three bags full. Are there butterflies on that mountain? Are the bluets in bloom, are there arrowheads here, or fossil shells in the shale?" Dillard makes a great point that many things are overlooked by many people depending on their agenda or what they have become accustomed to seeing. One could infer from this that it is positive to experience nature with many other people; multiple eyes are better than one. On the other hand, I feel that if you experience nature on your own, you will eventually train your eyes to see everything there is to see; at the very least everything you need to see.