The Pleasure of Observing An Essay from Field Notes on Science and Nature by George B. Schaller AbbreviationBeyond dry factsA study should persistPrecious intangible valuesIndependent fragments of existence+1 More
Focal awareness The philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty describes what she experienced as "being as a thing." The philosopher Michael Polanyi calls it "focal awareness" and recurs to the act of hammering a nail: When we bring down the hammer we do not feel that its handle has struck our palm but that its head has struck the nail. We have become the things on which we are working. Richard Sennett, The Craftsman The inventive process was often a nonverbal oneHe feels the end of the cane identity