Annette, there is so much of value packed into this one post! First off, I’m a bird lover but no expert, and I love watching birds and using the Merlin app to identify them by their calls. I enjoyed your description of the two festivals you and your wife attended. Secondly, the reminded that all humans are of one species is a powerful one. Yes, we must look more closely at our biases and forestall those knee-jerk judgements about the “stranger.” We are all one, and we are all “other.” Or fears so often dictate how we choose to act toward those we haven’t met. Thanks for a powerful essay!
Loved this! I spent much of my first 3 years in retirement learning about birds and to my delight, I still love it so much although I do not get out like I did. : )
My fantasy is to learn to look at the world as you do and extract powerful messages that help me understand the world around me. Thanks for this wonderful post.
This was both delightful (your photos are exquisite!) and arrestingly profound. The example of the Quelea stopped me in my tracks (like you, I had no idea...and like you, I carried the misconception that the birds who frequent my tiny (tiny!) patch of the world must be the predominant species. Grateful for this reminder to lead with humility, follow with more of it, then conclude with it, too. Thank you, Annette. 🐦🐧🦅🦆🦉🦜🦢🦤🐦⬛🕊️
Thank you so much for the bridging of the bird categorization with our human experiences of "needed to define" one another. This was SUPERB...thanks so much for sharing!
Loved the Quelea example, it perfectly illustrates availability bias in action. We confuse whats locally visible with whats globally true. The connection between bird taxonomy and human categorization is really insightful, especially since bird categories are evolutionary fact while human categories are socially constructed yet feel just as natural to us. Ive caught myself doing this exact thing with tech adoption patterns, assuming everyones workflow looks like mine.
Thanks for your insightful comment. And, yes, it’s so easy to believe our world experience is everything and everybody’s. So many people don’t know that human socially-constructed categories are not the same as other mammals. I probably could have said that more directly. Thanks for naming it here.
Annette, there is so much of value packed into this one post! First off, I’m a bird lover but no expert, and I love watching birds and using the Merlin app to identify them by their calls. I enjoyed your description of the two festivals you and your wife attended. Secondly, the reminded that all humans are of one species is a powerful one. Yes, we must look more closely at our biases and forestall those knee-jerk judgements about the “stranger.” We are all one, and we are all “other.” Or fears so often dictate how we choose to act toward those we haven’t met. Thanks for a powerful essay!
Thank you, Julie. I’m glad you found this a useful way to look at humans!
Loved this! I spent much of my first 3 years in retirement learning about birds and to my delight, I still love it so much although I do not get out like I did. : )
I’m so glad, Alesia. Aren’t birds amazing creatures? Glad you enjoy them too. I hope you can find ways to see them.
My fantasy is to learn to look at the world as you do and extract powerful messages that help me understand the world around me. Thanks for this wonderful post.
Oh, Denise, you see so much more than you let yourself believe!
This was both delightful (your photos are exquisite!) and arrestingly profound. The example of the Quelea stopped me in my tracks (like you, I had no idea...and like you, I carried the misconception that the birds who frequent my tiny (tiny!) patch of the world must be the predominant species. Grateful for this reminder to lead with humility, follow with more of it, then conclude with it, too. Thank you, Annette. 🐦🐧🦅🦆🦉🦜🦢🦤🐦⬛🕊️
Thanks so much, Keith! Yes, humility is a hard thing to embrace and it always surprises me. Long live the Quelea (in our minds).
Thank you so much for the bridging of the bird categorization with our human experiences of "needed to define" one another. This was SUPERB...thanks so much for sharing!
Isn’t it interesting how we so desperately want to put people into boxes? It can be hard to open ourselves to the lives of others, but so worth it!
Loved the Quelea example, it perfectly illustrates availability bias in action. We confuse whats locally visible with whats globally true. The connection between bird taxonomy and human categorization is really insightful, especially since bird categories are evolutionary fact while human categories are socially constructed yet feel just as natural to us. Ive caught myself doing this exact thing with tech adoption patterns, assuming everyones workflow looks like mine.
Thanks for your insightful comment. And, yes, it’s so easy to believe our world experience is everything and everybody’s. So many people don’t know that human socially-constructed categories are not the same as other mammals. I probably could have said that more directly. Thanks for naming it here.
And when you asked me about the most abundant bird, I also guessed sparrow. Busted! Thanks for this thoughtful reflection and subtle challenge.