A reason to know more facts

The more you know, the more you notice

(Originally posted as LW shortform)

People talk about meditation/mindfulness practices making them more aware of physical sensations. In general, having "heightened awareness" is often associated with processing more raw sense data but in a simple way. I'd like to propose an alternative version of "heightened awareness" that results from consciously knowing more information. The idea is that the more you know, the more you notice. You spot more patterns, make more connections, see more detail and structure in the world.

Compare two guys walking through the forest: one is a classically "mindful" type, he is very aware of the smells and sounds and sensations, but the awareness is raw, it doesn't come with a great deal of conscious thought. The second is an expert in botany and birdwatching. Every plant and bird in the forest has interest and meaning to him. The forest smells help him predict what grows around the corner, the sounds connect to his mental map of birds' migratory routes, he can name every tree in sight and estimate its age.

Sometimes people imply that AI and automation is making general knowledge obsolete, but they miss this angle—knowledge enables heightened conscious awareness and understanding of what is happening around you. The fact that you can look stuff up on Google, or ask an AI assistant, does not actually lodge that information in your brain in a way that lets you see richer structure in the world. Only actually knowing does that.

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