Over the past year, I have put a lot of effort into learning to identify the different types of trees in the area. This is no small challenge, as some of them differ only in minute details, and there are numerous different factors that one must consider to properly make an identification. It occurred to me today on my walk that my brain has probably changed a bit as a result of this learning process. I’d be willing to bet that that I am way better at discriminating between shades of brown and gray than most people (because of spending a lot of time looking at bark) and also at remembering the structure of irregular shapes (because of all the time looking at leaves). In general, it seems this process has increased my awareness and attention to fine detail.
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