In Plain Sight

Think Tank #40

Have you ever edited something and skipped over a typo because you knew what it was supposed to say?

This sounds obvious. We’ve all done it. This is why it’s helpful to have someone else read over your writing, or to at the very least wait a day or two before revisiting a piece of writing.

While editing, you still remember coming up with the sentence with the the repeated word, or the one where you used the wrong “there” even though you obviously know which one was supposed to be their.

Your brain simply passes over the error and unconsciously corrects it. In other words, it sees what it expects to see.

The explanation makes sense. Almost too much sense. But what does it imply?

Well, the most obvious thing is that it’s quite easy for us to ignore things that are right in front of our faces

The less obvious deduction is that we’re more easily fooled in familiar surroundings—places that we have basically committed to memory—than in places where everything around us is new.

It means our brains are arrogant. When they think they know something, they get cocky, forget to double check.

And in the case of editing (which is, quite literally, the deliberate act of double checking), there is a difference between our intent and our execution.

What else are we blind to that’s right in front of our eyes?

After all, if there’s anything that this proves, it’s that often, the best place to hide is in plain sight.