The Description of an Observation Experiment

¶ … stood still by a large fountain in a public square and did nothing for ten minutes. I used as many senses as possible to intake information from the world around me as objectively as possible, letting go the temptation to judge or analyze what was going on.

The sounds were the first thing I noticed: the occasional cry of a baby or high-pitched voice of a child; the subtle murmurs of intimate conversations; the constant hum of city noise from traffic; and natural sounds like the wind as it hit objects, blew leaves on the trees, and set aloft pieces of trash. Turning my attention toward the sights around me, the whole square seemed alive and pulsing.

There were pigeons and crows going about their daily business, the pigeons seemingly doing nothing but waddling around and flying away when a person would get too close, and the crows pecking at garbage, perching on poles, and sometimes squawking. Without actively watching, in order to preserve the integrity of the "beginner's mind," I simply gazed impassively at the people around me. I could feel more than I could see the eyes on me, wondering why there was a person who was standing around doing nothing.

I was not using my phone or reading anything, and I imagined I may look strange to them and thought about what people were thinking. Yet I pushed away those thoughts as soon as they arose, to maintain as clear a mind as possible. I saw how many different pairs of shoes there were on the streets, and how many different types of clothing and unique outfits people wore. The sheer variety of colors around me became more astonishing by the second.

Some people wore only black, while others wore vibrant colors. Shifting my gaze to the sidewalks, streets, buildings, trees, and sky, I saw that the entire world was filled with color and light. Then I started to realize the importance of smells. The smell of fried fast food wafted to my nose, and it was strong, pungent, and unwelcome. I resisted the urge to move, which is what I would have done if I was not doing the experiment.

Instead, I observed the way I felt while smelling the smell and realized that it invoked a sense of revulsion in me as I considered what a body goes through when digesting such material. I smelled coffee brewing, which was a more pleasant smell, but I also tried to withstand judgment of pleasure as I wanted to maintain the clearest mind possible.

The occasional dank garbage smell came my way, and I simply let it be, as I had become interested in the act of passive observation in an urban setting. Before long, I started to feel like I was a statue. People were no longer paying attention to me, or so it seemed. I was part of the scenery, like a tree or like the fountain behind me. No one was going to take my picture, but nor were they going to approach me and talk to me.

I was thankful no one broke my silence, for I would not have been able to ignore someone if they kindly asked me for the time or to take a photo of them. Feeling like I was simultaneously in the world but not part of the world was a strange sensation. I felt detached, and wondered if this was how the pigeons and crows felt, too.

Two dogs approached my feet and sniffed my shoe, and I made every effort not to smile, pet the dog, or look up at the person. It was extremely difficult to ignore the dogs, and I got the feeling that the people thought I was rude to avoid making eye contact.