Occhiolism

My friend Kate Manser shared with me an idea that has become the word of the week: Occhiolism. Occhiolism is the perspective that your awareness is extremely limited. That everything you perceive, sense, or experience is only a fraction of what’s actually happening. 

The term is derived from what Galileo called his first microscope, “Occhiolino”, which means “little eye” in Italian. It perfectly exemplifies the point - There was so much that the human eye could not see, a perspective it could not incorporate or understand, until you could see it magnified. 

It’s remarkable how limited our perspective really is. We only have 5 senses yet we know and have measured so many other characteristics of the world that we don’t perceive. We make decisions based on the keyhole of insight we have into the world, which hardly represents everything that should be considered. Occhiolism acknowledges that our perspective is flawed and incomplete, which welcomes a level of humility, curiosity, and open-mindedness to fill the gaps in our understanding.

Occhiolism follows the story arc of mastery. It’s often said that the more you know about something, the more you realize how little you know. Each advancement of depth reveals a new world of factors you didn’t know existed. It’s the reason why the most knowledgeable people in the world consider themselves to be the greatest students.

From a personal development standpoint, occhiolism is critical because it encourages you to explore a deeper awareness. It empowers you to realize that any past mistakes or misunderstandings were a matter of limited perspective and not personal character flaws. It helps you better see the past for what it was - just a snapshot of you doing your best from the level of consciousness you were at.

My favorite quote ever (as far as I’m aware right now!) comes from Maya Angelou, and she says “You do your best until you know better, then once you know better, you do better.” To summarize that in a word… Occhiolism. 

So let’s learn to know better! And that starts with recognizing that the way we see the world today is incomplete.

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