Michael sent me an IM message this afternoon.
Michael: “Remember that guy we saw at such-and-such place? I just bumped into him again.”
Me: “You mean the big guy with the beard and the denim shirt with the so-and-so logo on it?”
Michael: “No, the other guy.”
Me: “Oh, the one with the graying hair and bushy mustache.”
Michael: “Yeah, that one! Geez, I can’t believe the details you remember.”
Me: “I don’t know, hair’s just one of those things I always seem to notice. I don’t look for it, but I guess it’s how my brain recognizes patterns. Like if someone’s had a hair cut or dyed their hair, I usually notice it right away.”
Me (again): “Which is probably why all those guys in ‘The Dirty Dozen’ all look exactly the same to me.”
Michael: “That’s funny, ’cause they all look SOOOOO different to me!”
I read an article on face recognition technology some time ago that mentioned the fact that our brains are physically wired to recognize faces; this is supposed to be why we see faces even in places where none exist, like in clouds and stucco and potato chips. Based on this little conversation (an exhaustive sample size of two) it seems that we don’t all process faces in the same way.
I know a woman who is always commenting on people’s size like that is the most pertinent distinguishing feature. She’ll say so-and-so is a “big girl” or she’s “teeny tiny” or comment on a person’s weight loss or gain, whatever. It’s always seemed weight-obssessed to me, but now I think that it’s just what stands out to her.
How about you? What do you see when you look at a person?
