Some of the biggest flaws in decorating are the imperfections in our own visual perception system, particularly when we do not “see.”
In the late ‘80s, my husband-to-be bought our NYC apartment. I was often afraid to walk around the neighborhood at night, The mornings after confirmed my fears. On my way to work, I often saw a car or two with broken windows, sometimes my own.
The city changed by the early ‘90s when it was recognized that eliminating quality of life nuisances like graffiti and litter could reduce crime. Establishing order was like drawing an “invisible line in the sand.” Beauty became a prerequisite for safety.
Those involved with this activism were successful because they used a type of seeing that incorporates heightened self-knowledge about visual perception. This phenomenon involves a different type of seeing than that which is normally experienced.
When We Do Not “See”
Decorating public spaces can be very difficult. Many forces in the human condition want to push the line backwards. The broken car glass in my neighborhood is gone as is the graffiti and the large chunks of litter. Yet, I still find a proliferation of cigarette butts strewn throughout flowerbeds, sidewalks and streets.
One reason cigarette butts have evaded greater scrutiny is based on how the human perception system works.
The brain is like a computer on steroids, processing ten million pieces of information per second. To address this overload, our brains choose efficient ways to organize information. One way is sending the eye to fixate on only a few parts of an image and fill in the rest. This operation is based on the observer’s past experiences and knowledge of the environment.
The brain also saves time and energy by processing small parts into wholes, according to certain patterns. These principles are known as the Gestalt Laws of Organization.
One configuration involves the Law of Similarity. Because the butts look alike in shape and color, the eye travels and fixates on them. In so doing, a geometric pattern is formed. Artists and architects have been using this law for ages to create harmonious forms. Unfortunately, cigarette butts are strewn in a haphazard manner. The pattern is like the lines of a three-year-old playing with an Etch A Sketch.
Secondly, because there are so many butts on the ground, the brain thinks, “Same o, same o.” To preserve energy, the brain will simply stop noticing them, a perceptual adaptation I refer to as cognitive override. [1]
The Body, the Mind and the Subliminal Self
Last of all, visual perception serves not only the physical part of the human persona but its spirit as well. The body appreciates seeing a tree, so it does not walk into a few tons of compact cellulose. Looking at the same tree, the mind, excited to analyze and learn, might exclaim, “Ah, a Gingko!!” Another part of the human persona, however, is only known through the laboratory of our personal experience. For want of a better name, I call it the subliminal self. It pulls in the beauty that makes us feel alive.
Unfortunately, in my experience, our subliminal self is not subject to a cognitive override.
It sees everything because it is constantly searching for patterns.[2] So, when it comes to cigarette butts, a perfect storm sets in. Our brains perceive their erratic patterns through the Law of Similarity. The butts’ omnipresent similarity kicks in our cognitive override. Still, the ever-vigilant subliminal self sees them all and experiences fatigue from all the visual noise. We see the butts and “feel” their effects but override the fact that we do.
Not “seeing” creates a host of other problems. Studies have shown that the continuous existence of butts, despite not being noticed, inspires larger pieces of litter. Not seeing eventually starts to erode that “invisible line in the sand.” The irony is that to get people to stop littering, there must be no litter.
The worst effect of butts is environmental. Research at San Diego University has shown that one butt in a one-liter fish tank killed half the fish in fifteen minutes. And that is where most butts end up — with the fish.
Some people put their butts in waste receptacles. Most, however, consider them non-litter and throw them in the street. The wind and rain take them to the storm drains and out to sea.
Why So Many Butts
Fewer Americans are smoking but not many establishments allow the habit inside. So, butts do not find their way into indoor ashtrays. Instead, they are littered on the street. Every 15 seconds, Americans smoke 139,000 cigarettes, close to 800 million per day. It is estimated that at least 65% of all butts are thrown on the ground. Such litter is enough to cover the area of Central Park fifteen times yearly or string thirteen cigarette necklaces to the moon. [3]
Those few smokers with good intentions, who throw their butts into receptacles or carry a pocket ashtray are not helping either….
Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate, a plastic that takes generations to decompose.
Within the filters are deposits of 165 chemicals. This includes lead, arsenic, ammonia, cadmium, formaldehyde and one of the most potent cancer-causing chemicals in the world, benzo(a)pyrene.
At this point, it might be tempting to hate the smoker, especially true if our cognitive override has shut down and hundreds of butts can be seen everywhere. I cannot judge because as an ex-smoker, I loved every cigarette I ever inhaled. Emotion is not a solution – only action is.
Our cognitive override will come back quickly, probably a day or so after reading this article. Such precious time should be embraced, however, before the eyes go behind the veil. We cannot find a solution until we see the problem, and to see the problem one must first ……see.
A Possible Solution
What can be done? It would not be easy, but one solution would be to recycle the butts. To do so, we would need a comprehensive program.
TerraCycle will take these butts. After safely removing the chemicals, they will repurpose the filters into hundreds of items like park benches, window boxes and flowerpots. The company will even pay to ship the butts to their factory.
Aside from volunteers to collect butts and ship them, plenty of outdoor ashtrays would be necessary. TerraCycle sells them at a reasonable cost. We painted ours to blend in with the building’s architectural elements.
Last of all, everyone would need to be reeducated about the effects of butt litter. At this time, research has determined that if an outside ashtray is more than ten feet from the last puff, the butt goes to the ground.
But there is hope… if we all start.
So lets begin.
[1] Neural Adaption
[2] There is no proof how the subliminal self sees. It has ben suggested, that it does not see a tree like the conscious mind but in geometric patterns. Looking at a tree, it will see the branches as fractals and leaves arranged in ratios going on to infinity. These patterns are the mathematical underpinnings found in all nature, including the human body right down to the geometry of our DNA. Perceiving the patterns of nature and its ongoing creation makes the subliminal self energized, which has been known in the creative world. Artists and architects have always used this geometry to pull the eye into motion, creating a movement of pleasure.
[3]Based on measurement of an average butt to be 1 ¼” X 7/8”
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